


Someone Like You

by mandzilkos



Series: LMLY/SLY [2]
Category: Football RPF
Genre: Cute Kids, F/M, Fluff, Originally Posted on Tumblr, POV Alternating, POV First Person, Real Madrid CF, read part 1 first tho, they're very cute, trust me - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-20
Updated: 2015-08-08
Packaged: 2018-04-05 07:23:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 40
Words: 131,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4171056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandzilkos/pseuds/mandzilkos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Toni and Gabriele finally settle down to couple life again - but definitely not without any obstacles. Join them on their journey as they navigate the little problems all couples have (and a few big problems, too). But such a sweet, innocent love like theirs can’t possibly be deterred by a few disagreements…or can it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Happy Holidays

**Author's Note:**

> Second/final part to Let Me Love You, so be sure to read that first!

Gabi’s POV

“Gabi,” Toni whispered gently, his breath warming the back of my ear. “Wake up, sleepyhead.”

“Hmmm?” I mumbled, snuggling up into a comfortable little ball.

“Wake up,” he shook me gently. “It’s snowing.”

“Snowing?” I murmured. “Nice.”

“Wake up and watch the snow with me, Gabi,” he placed his lips on the back of my neck and traced a line of soft kisses down my shoulder.

I groaned and opened my eyes reluctantly. The room was dark except for the dim glow of the streetlight outside Toni’s window. “What time is it?” I asked groggily.

“Um…four-thirty.”

“In the morning?” I shrieked. “Toni!”

He shrugged apologetically. “It’s the first snowfall!”

I sighed and swung my legs out of bed. “Okay, how do you want to watch it?”

A childlike grin invaded his beautiful face. “Here. Anywhere. With you.”

I patted the space beside me on the bed, where I was sat facing the window. “Come here, then.”

He crawled next to me eagerly and wrapped his arms around me, planting a gentle kiss on the top of my head. “Thank you, baby.”

“You’re such a child, you know?” I complained.

“Thank you,  _mummy_ ,” he smirked.

I ignored him, turning my gaze to the snow falling outside. Even though I was tired, I suddenly didn’t mind staying up like this – there was nothing more romantic than sitting in the warmness of his room and watching the snowflakes slowly float to the ground in the light of the street lamp outside; sitting in the comfort of the arms of my Toni.

My performance had been satisfying enough for me to be granted a whole two weeks of leave from work, so I’d decided to spend the holidays and the last of 2012 with my family and Toni. About a quarter of my break had already gone, and I’d spent the most of it sleeping in Toni’s bed instead of my own. With every day that passed with him by my side, the more I was convinced that I was right to have resolved my ‘maybe’ into a ‘yes.’

I lost track of time, immersed in my thoughts and hypnotised by the beauty of the impending winter, until the snow stopped and the sky showed a hint of the dark purple of sunrise.

“I love you, Gabriele,” Toni whispered into my hair, waking me up from my daze.

“I love you, too,” I whispered back. “Merry Christmas.”

I felt him smile. “Thank you for coming back to me.”

“Stop it,” I mumbled. “That is so last month.”

He chuckled and wrapped his arms more tightly around me. “I’m just glad I’m getting to spend the most romantic day of the year with you again.”

I turned around and gazed at him without removing myself from his arms. His eyes were almost dark blue in the light. They were piercing through me with the most grateful, relieved and joyful gaze I’d ever seen; all those emotions combining perfectly into the magical look Toni was looking at me with.

Before he could respond, I grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him hard on the lips. “I wouldn’t spend it with anyone else,” I whispered.

He smiled into the kiss. “Neither would I.”

In typical Toni fashion, he dragged me onto his lap and wrapped my legs around his waist. Before it could go any further, I dragged myself away from him and held him by his shoulders. “Sleep?” I asked, trying to slow my breathing.

The sides of his lips turned downwards and his shoulders slumped. But one look at my face and he relented. “Okay, sleep,” he said reluctantly, climbing in beside me and dragging me so that my body was half on top of his.

I draped a leg over him. “Night night, baby.”

“Night night,” he sighed contentedly. “Sweet dreams of me.”

I giggled. “Us,” I whispered. “Sweet dreams of us, Toni.”

Toni’s POV

The town square was crowded with people on Christmas night – with their families, their loved ones, and their best friends. And me? I was with my favourite person in the entire world.

Gabi and I walked hand-in-hand down the wintry streets, still very Christmassy despite being devoid of snow. The weather was chilly, though, and that meant that Gabi and I were wrapped up comfortably in our jackets.

Suddenly, Gabi lifted my left hand and slipped off the glove. She hesitated for a moment before asking, “Cold?”

I shook my head, so she smiled and slipped off the glove on her right hand. Then she stuffed the gloves in her pocket and slipped her fingers comfortably in between mine, skin on skin.

“You cold?” I asked her.

She shook her head and smiled wider. “I want to feel your hand.”

“So romantic,” I leaned over and whispered in her ear.

“I learnt it from you,” she giggled.

The streets were lined beautifully with Christmas lights, but I caught sight of something hanging above the door of a closed shop. Much to Gabi’s confusion and annoyance, I pulled her over to the dark shop entrance.

“What?” she asked. “What are you doing?”

I pointed to the bunch of mistletoe hanging above the door when we stopped outside it. A sly smile crept across her face, complementing her rosy cheeks.

“Are you going to kiss me?” she asked in a low voice, her bright blue eyes glowing in the shadows.

“You know, legend says that if you reject it, you’ll be an old maid.”

She laughed, and then leaned over to whisper in my ear, “Who says I’m going to reject you?”

Eagerly, I grabbed her face with both hands and leaned in to kiss her, but before our lips could touch, she placed a finger on my lips and stopped me. I pouted, and she laughed. “ _Legend says_  you’re only supposed to kiss me on the cheek,” she teased, using my own trick on me.

“Really? I’ve never heard of that,” I nuzzled her cheek.

“Do you want me to be an old maid?”

“You won’t be an old maid as long as I’m around.”

She grinned. “That’s a promise,” she said, puckering her lips. “Give it to me, baby.”

So I gave it to her right on the doorstep of that quaint little shop, under that piece of mistletoe that just happened to be spotted by me on our way home.

Her hands, one gloved and the other not, moved up to caress my face, warming it in the cold and wet night. In response, I moved my hands under her jacket and on to her t-shirt, feeling her smile against my lips as I did so. Somehow, I ended up pinning her against the glass panel of the shop door.

“Okay, okay, enough,” she nudged me aside. “I definitely won’t be an old maid now.”

I pointed to the shop window. “People are going to wonder why there’s a Gabi-shaped dry spot on the glass.”

She burst out laughing. “Let them imagine,” she said, waggling her eyebrows. She pulled me along by the hand and screamed, “Let their minds run free!”

I laughed as I watched her giggling happily, her hair slightly wet but still flying freely behind her; and I was so happy that she came back – although she whined about how often I mentioned it – and I was so happy she was still as open-minded, carefree and passionate as she was before. She didn’t change. My good old Gabi was still there, and for that I’d be eternally grateful.

——

Gabi was due back at work two days after New Year’s Day, just as I was due to depart for training camp with Bayern. I sat beside her on her living room couch, together with her family and mine, who were all gathered around the TV to watch the countdown.

“Will you consider it again?” I spoke to Gabi in a low voice, not wanting the others to overhear.

She turned and stared at me. “Toni, I already told you, I’m going back to London.”

“But what about us?”

“Baby,” she sighed and took my hand in hers. “Don’t you trust me?”

“I do, Gabi, but –“

“Then why won’t you believe me when I say we can do this long-distance thing?”

“I can’t help but worry, especially when every time you come back to Munich you lose a few kilos,” I said. “Gabi, let me take care of you. You don’t have to work anymore. I’ll give you everything you need.”

“I don’t want you to!” she whispered urgently, trying her best to keep it soft. “I don’t want people to think that I’m some kind of gold-digger.”

“But you’re not!”

“People might think – Jesus, Toni, do you want the last thing you do in 2012 to be making me angry?”

“I just…I don’t want to be selfish, but…Gabi, just think about it, okay? I want to take care of you.”

She nodded without a word.

“Don’t be angry, baby,” I soothed. “I just want you to be by my side.”

She turned towards me and smiled, the expression not reaching her eyes, and turned her gaze back in front towards the TV.

Gabi’s POV

I knew he wasn’t intentionally being selfish, and that he just wanted to take care of me, but I couldn’t help but fume internally as I watched the New Year’s celebrations on TV with Toni by my side. If he was going to pursue his footballing dreams, then why couldn’t  _I_ pursue my journalism dreams? It wasn’t that I didn’t want to stay – I wanted to stay, but I also wanted to work.

He gave my hand a gentle squeeze as the countdown began, but I didn’t turn to look at him in case I suddenly started crying. Our families joined in the counting, but Toni and I just sat there quietly, although he held my hand firmly.

Everybody stood up and began cheering as fireworks went off at the live event, but we stayed in our positions, my legs tucked underneath me and Toni’s legs folded, my hand in his and both of us staring straight ahead.

Suddenly, in one swift, graceful move, Toni let go of my hand and grabbed my face gently. He planted a soft, sweet kiss on my lips, whispering, “I love you, baby. I’m sorry. Don’t be mad at me.”

I couldn’t help but smile against his lips when I heard those words whispered into our New Year’s kiss. “Happy New Year, Toni baby.”

He kissed me again, harder this time, his eager lips trying to convey his guilt, his appreciation, and the exact depth of his love for me.

“I love you,” he repeated.

“I love you too, baby,” I murmured. “Always.”

And then everything was alright, just as they would always be; all our troubles flung far away and dissolving into a million little pieces. Everything was alright, just as they would always be; as long as I loved Toni, and Toni loved me.


	2. Home Sweet Home

Gabi’s POV

“Am I being selfish?” I asked Louise. “Or is he being selfish? Or am I being more selfish than him?”

“Seriously, Gabi?” she rolled her eyes at me from her spot on the couch. “You’re still on that topic? That is so last year. LITERALLY. SO LAST YEAR.”

“Well, the problem hasn’t been solved!” I sighed.

“Speaking of problems,” she changed the subject. “George wants to see you tomorrow.”

George was the head of our human resources department. “Why?” I asked. “Am I in trouble?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, a cheeky smirk on her face. “Wait and see.”

——

I knocked on George’s door timidly. “Come in,” I heard him shout, so I opened the door and walked in slowly.

I was totally unsure of what I was in for, so I was rather surprised when I saw him beaming at me proudly. He took out an envelope from his drawer and handed it to me. “Congratulations, Gabriele!”

Puzzled, I took the letter from him and read it.

_Miss Gabriele Meiser,  
Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that we are offering you a promotion to Head Editor (Bundesliga department)._

_This position will require you to move to our office in Munich. Attached is a list of your roles and duties, which differ from that of your current position. We understand that you have been writing for the English Premier League department, so you might need time to adjust to your new responsibilities. Hence, we hope that you will think about it thoroughly and give us a reply in a maximum of five working days._

_We believe in your capabilities and your ability to adapt to your new work environment, and that is why we are offering you this position. We hope to hear from you soon. Congratulations again!_

_Regards,_  
George Abbott  
Chief Human Resources Officer  
representing  
Human Resources Department, SMW Media & Publishing

I looked up only to find George looking at me expectantly, a slight smile still on his face. I gaped at him, and he laughed. “You deserve it!” he said.

“I…thank you,” I stuttered. “Thank you so much.”

“Think about it carefully,” he advised. “If there’s anything you want to talk about, you can always come to me.”

“I’m taking it,” I said immediately. “I’m accepting your offer.”

It was his turn to gape at me. “Are you sure? Do you need time to think about it?”

“No,” I shook my head. “I’m from Munich. I grew up watching the Bundesliga. It will take me literally no time at all to get used to it.”

He laughed. “I knew we picked the right person.”

“When should I start work?”

“By next Monday,” he said. “But I think they’d appreciate it if you got over as soon as possible.”

I shook his hand and thanked him again before half-jogging out of his office excitedly, clutching his letter for dear life. I skipped all the way to my desk, all red-faced and panting. Louise was waiting for me there, expectant and wide-eyed.

“You knew about this?” I screeched as soon as I saw her.

She burst out laughing. “Yeah, what do you think!”

“And you didn’t tell me!” I squeaked, punching her on the shoulder. “How could you!”

“Did you accept it already?”

“Yes!”

She clapped her hands excitedly and stood up. “Guys!” she yelled. “Gabi got promoted! She’s leaving for Germany in a few days.”

That earned me some encouraging applause from my colleagues, which I wasn’t used to, so I smiled shyly and quietly thanked them before plopping back down in my seat. I fished around in my bag and found my mobile phone.

“Calling Toni?” Louise grinned.

“Yeah,” I paused. “Or should I surprise him?”

She shrugged. “Valentine’s Day is coming.”

“Oh, Louise,” I flopped over on the table and gazed at her dreamily. “Now I can celebrate Valentine’s Day with Toni.”

She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Stupid lovebirds.”

“I’m going to surprise him,” I said, picking up the phone and dialling his number. “It’s going to be the biggest shock of his life. Oh, he’s going to be so happy!”

Toni’s POV

I’d just laid out food for Julius and Lennox when my phone started chiming from the coffee table.

“Hey,” I lay back on the couch as I answered the call.

“Toni!” Gabi’s excited voice came over the phone. “Hey, baby.”

“Hi,” I couldn’t help but smile at the sound of her voice. “How are you?”

“I’m okay,” she sounded calmer. After a short pause, she said, “I miss you.”

“I miss you too, Gabi,” I sighed. She stayed silent upon hearing my tone of voice, probably not wanting to aggravate the current situation. We’d been avoiding the topic ever since she returned to London, each of us not entirely sure how the other person would react.

“Ummm,” she started after a period of silence. “Can we Skype on Thursday?”

“Thursday?” I repeated. “I have training.”

“Oh, um…what about at night?”

“Okay, but I’m flying to Wolfsburg on Friday, so I can’t stay up.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” she mumbled, sounding a little disappointed.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Everything’s fine,” she said. I could almost see her smiling at the other end after I asked that question. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Gabriele. More than you’ll ever know.”

——

I decided to take a short nap after training on Thursday – when I woke up, all hot, sweaty and disoriented in the late evening light, someone suddenly reached over and covered my eyes with both hands.

“Guess who,” that someone whispered in my ear.

I didn’t need to guess – I’d recognise that voice anywhere, even when she was whispering. “Gabi?” I removed her hands from my eyes as I heard her giggling. “Gabi!”

“Surprise!” she giggled again.

“Gabi!” I said again. “What are you doing here?”

“Skyping you,” she shrugged.

I laughed. “Like, in real life?”

“Yeah!” she crawled over and half-sat on my lap. “Now you can touch me,” she whispered suggestively.

I grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her eagerly on her lips, feeling her smile broadly as I did so. Her hands slid up my shoulders, along my cheeks and into my hair, her skilful fingers sliding through it, her gentle lips parting to welcome my tongue. Slowly, I moved her from my lap to the bed, resting her head on the pillows, our lips never separating as I leaned over her.

Suddenly, she smacked my shoulder gently. “You’re happy to see me?” she murmured against my lips.

“Very,” I whispered.

“Aren’t you tired from training?”

“Never too tired for you, baby,” I slid my hands under her shirt as she arched her back off the bed, pressing her crotch against mine.

“I love you, Toni,” she breathed.

“I love you too, Gabi,” I whispered as I quickly unbuttoned and got rid of her shirt, smiling as she mirrored my actions and slid my shirt off above my head.

And then we were lost – lost in each other’s embrace, in the glorious combination of our bodies, so perfect together as if we were made especially for each other; lost in the familiar scent of our skin mixing with sweat; lost in the stickiness of our bodies against each other; and lost, completely lost, in the feeling of making sweet, sweet love to the person we each loved the most.

Gabi’s POV

I gave a contented sigh as Toni nuzzled the back of my neck gently. “Happy Valentine’s day, baby,” I mumbled.

I felt his body stiffen against the back of mine as he sucked in a breath of air. “It’s Valentine’s day?” he asked in a small voice.

“It is,” I smiled, my eyes closed.

“Oh, no,” he whined. “I didn’t get anything for you.”

“Were you going to give it to me through Skype?” I laughed. “Crash through the computer screen? Squeeze it through the wires?”

He paused for a moment before biting my earlobe gently. “Don’t laugh at me, Gabriele.”

I turned so we were face-to-face. “I brought something for you,” I told him.

“What is it?”

I grabbed his hand and put his index finger on my nose. “This.”

“Awwww,” he laughed, removed his finger and kissed me where it’d just been. “Best present ever.”

“ _You’re_  the best present ever,” I smiled.

“Why are you back? Don’t you have to work?”

I grinned at him, and the look of confusion on his face intensified. “I’m here to work,” I said.

“Why?” he wrinkled his brow. “There’s no English team playing here.”

I reached for my bag on the floor and found my promotion letter. I handed it to him and watched his reaction.

His eyes widened as he finished reading the first paragraph and started the second. And then his mouth fell open. “This job requires you to move to Munich.”

“Yeah, it does.”

He shifted his shocked gaze to me. “Did you take it?” he whispered.

I nodded, and that triggered his overexcited response, which consisted of him flinging the letter and its envelope across the room, pouncing on me and hugging me tightly against the bed, laughing softly and blowing air gently across the bare skin of my shoulder.

“Oh, baby baby baby,” he sighed into my hair. “You’re coming back to me! Again!”

“I am,” I whispered. Seeing him so happy made me realise that I should probably have done this earlier; if it meant so much to him that I was by his side, then I shouldn’t have been so selfish. And blind. I should have seen this earlier.

“Congrats, baby,” he kissed me hard on the cheek, and then pulled away to gaze at me lovingly. Suddenly, a dark look clouded his face. “Why are you crying?”

“No, I’m not,” I said.

“You have leaky eyes,” he laughed and used his thumbs to wipe the tears that were threatening to fall down my face. “Oh, Gabi, you’re such a crybaby.”

“I’m  _your_  crybaby.”

“Yeah,” he smiled and kissed my head. “Mine.”

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled.

“For what, baby?”

“I should have done this earlier…I should have come back. I’m sorry we kept fighting over this. I love you, and I want to be with you. It’s just…Toni, I’m so sorry. Seeing you so happy…it makes me so happy, too. And maybe…maybe if I wasn’t so selfish we’d be this happy earlier.”

“Gabi,” he whispered, grabbing me and pressing me close to him. “Don’t be sorry. If you were here earlier, then you wouldn’t have a job and you wouldn’t be so happy, either. Everything worked out, see?”

I pushed him away by the chest playfully. “You smooth-ass shit.”

“Smooth as shit?” he murmured into my ear. “Is your shit smooth? That’s not good, baby.”

“Shut up!”

“I love you, Gabi.”

“I love you, too,” I sighed. “You always make things alright.”

“Because you –“

“Because I let you,” I interrupted. “I know.”

He leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips. “I’m glad you do.”

“You’re glad I let you or you’re glad I know?”

A slow smile crept over his face as a faraway look took over his eyes, the same one that did whenever he told me how happy he was that I’d come back to him on that cold November night three months ago – when I’d come back to him because I finally remembered, I finally _knew_  that I was going to let him love me.

His gaze travelled slowly around my face until it landed back on my eyes. His beautiful seawater gaze that never failed to warm my heart.

Cupping my cheeks with both hands, he pressed his lips against mine again.

“Both,” he whispered.


	3. London Calling

Gabi’s POV

“Gabi, baby, wake up,” Toni mumbled in my ear. “You’re gonna be late.”

“Late?” I murmured.

“We’re going to London, remember?”

“I’ll get up if you stop bugging me,” I whined.

“Okay,” he whispered. He gave me a gentle peck on the cheek, his lips lingering for longer than required, and then all was silent from his side.

Astonished at his cooperation, I rolled towards his side of the bed, only to collide with his legs. He was sitting there, staring at me creepily, watching me sleep.

“Pervert,” I mouthed.

“You know you like it,” he mouthed back.

“You really like getting me up, don’t you?” I whined again.

“So do you,” he replied. “Oh, Gabi, you get me up all the time.”

I stared at him, and he just waggled his eyebrows at me. Horrified at his brazenness, I slapped him on the shoulder. “Jesus, Toni. It’s too early to be so horny!”

He grabbed me and put me on his lap. “We can be quick,” he kissed my lips. “You smell so good in the morning.”

“Toni!” I yelled. “Stop it!”

“Baby…” he pleaded.

“Okay, okay,” I put a finger to his lips. “Here’s the deal. You score a goal tomorrow, you can do whatever you want with me.”

“Really? Whatever I want?”

“Whatever you want.”

“Deal,” he kissed me hard on the lips again and shoved his tongue into my mouth for a split second before retreating and sauntering out of the room. “I’m gonna get that goal, baby!” he yelled from the hallway.

I rolled my eyes at the now empty doorway. And then turned and looked around the room. I’d been back for a week now, and I’d been spending most of my time by Toni’s side, sleeping in his bed and living on his side of the road. I could tell how happy he was with that arrangement, although I couldn’t help but sometimes feel that I was intruding in his daily life.

Reluctantly, I dragged myself out of bed and downstairs, where Toni was standing at the door with his luggage. He was going to London to play Arsenal, and I had shamelessly awarded myself the opportunity to cover the match, along with a few others. We were on different flights, obviously, but I was sure we’d see each other there.

He smiled as he saw me bounding down the stairs and towards him. “I thought you were just going to stay in bed and let me go,” he whispered, sounding a little relieved, as he wrapped his arms around me.

I wrapped my arms tightly around him. “I’m never going to let you go.”

“Me neither,” he sighed and rested his chin on my shoulder. “Thanks, baby.”

“Why are you being so polite? You were so rude a few minutes ago.”

“Because I can be however I want to be around you and you won’t judge me.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “I love you, Toni. Good luck, have fun, and score a goal, okay?”

“You bet I will,” his hand slid down to my butt and squeezed it gently. “Bye, Gabi. I love you. See you tomorrow.”

I walked with him to the end of the driveway and watched as he got into his car and wound down the window. I leaned over and gave him one last kiss before watching him fade down the road, thinking to myself how he, too, was letting himself go. In his own ways, he was letting me see all the different colours of his little Toni rainbow, and he was letting me love all of them.

And it was working, because I loved him more each time I looked at him.

Toni’s POV

It was already late at night when we returned to the hotel after the match, and everyone headed straight to their rooms, but I spotted a familiar figure curled up on a couch at the corner of the lobby. Gabi, her face lit up by the glow of her laptop.

I went over and plopped down beside her, but she was so engrossed in her work that she didn’t notice I was there. So I just sat there patiently until she finally gave a sigh of relief, closed her laptop, and looked around at her surroundings.

She gave a loud yelp when she saw me, and then immediately flung both her hands over her mouth when she realised her voice echoed around the lobby. “Oh, my God,” she whispered. “How long have you been sitting here?”

I shrugged, and she slid over closer to me and leaned into my arms. “You were great.”

“Thanks, baby,” I smiled. “I scored,” I reminded her.

“It was wonderful,” she grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it. “Beautiful, just like you.”

“I scored a beautiful goal for a beautiful girl,” I told her.

“Awwwww, so sweet,” she looked up at me and smiled before pulling herself out of my arms. “I have to go check on the other writers.”

“Are you tired?” I asked.

She giggled and leaned to whisper in my ear. “So eager, baby,” she nuzzled the side of my neck.

“I scored,” I said again. I leaned closer and said in a lower voice, “And I want to score again.”

“I know,” she smiled mischievously. She grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the lifts. I pressed the button for the eleventh floor, where I was staying for the night.

She smiled when we reached the outside of my door. “Wait for me inside,” she said, kissing me urgently on the lips before turning and disappearing into the lift again.

I went inside and dumped my bag on the floor, relieved that the rest of the team hadn’t popped by while we were outside. Gabi only took a few minutes to get her work done, only giving me time to take off my sweatshirt and shoes and put them away in the closet before she rang the bell.

She pounced on me the moment I opened the door, barely allowing me to hang the “do not disturb” sign on the door handle in case anyone decided to have a midnight heart-to-heart with me. She clung on to me tightly with her arms and legs, placing her lips next to my ear to whisper, “Hey, baby.”

“So eager, Gabi,” I whispered as she moved her face and pressed her lips on mine. “Eager beaver.”

She burst out laughing in my face. “Eager beaver? Yeah, I guess my  _beaver_  is really eager.”

“Literally eager beaver, then,” I kissed her on the nose.

“Just trying to catch up with you,” she smiled. “Your eager…whatever.”

“Eager whatever works fine,” I murmured.

“What are you planning to do with me?” she whispered, playfully nipping at my earlobe with her teeth.

I smiled. “Let’s take a shower, stinkypants.”

“Haven’t you already showered?”

“I’ll shower you,” I replied, and she grinned.

With her legs still wrapped around me, I carried her to the bathroom and set her down next to the sink. Slowly, I slipped off her sneakers and her socks, and then moved upwards to unbutton her jeans. As I did so, her hands fumbled urgently to my zipper, gently caressing my rapidly hardening parts as she did so. I stepped out of my jeans just as I pulled hers off.

Her eager hands slipped under my shirt and pulled it off before I could do anything else. In response, I reached for the long line of buttons on her shirt, groaning internally at how many there were.

She pulled down my underwear and made me step out of it, before her gentle fingers moved to grip me in her hands. She started moving it up and down my shaft, impatiently pressing her lips against mine, whispering, “Hurry up, baby. Rip it, I don’t care. I want this inside me.”

Upon her permission, I pulled off her shirt, ripping off the remaining buttons and hearing her giggle as they clattered away on the marble counter. Hurriedly, I pulled off her panties and unhooked her bra.

“Wrap your legs around me, baby,” I murmured into her ear as she trailed a line of kisses down my shoulder and did as I said. “Remember when we did it against the wall?”

She giggled again. “Of course.”

“Again?”

She laughed softly, blowing a small gust of air on my bare skin. “Again.”

“I’ll be gentle this time,” I whispered, and I felt her smile.

I carried her to the shower and put her down, turning the knobs of the shower to a decent-looking position before turning it on. I turned back to her while waiting for the water temperature to rise, only to see her staring lovingly at me, biting her lower lip.

“Let’s make out,” she mouthed.

Knowing she didn’t need a reply, I grabbed her face and pulled her towards me, feeling her grin as my lips landed on hers. Her hands moved to rest on my hips as mine did in her hair, her tongue expertly navigating the inside of my mouth.

She squealed as I pressed her against the glass of the shower. “It’s cold,” she giggled.

I stuck my leg under the running water and found that it was already warm, so I dragged her around and joined her under the shower head. She giggled again as the water fell off her hair and down her face.

I picked up the small bottle of shower gel on the rack. “Shower first or me first?”

“Can we do both at once?” she whispered mischievously.

“Okay, let’s go,” I pinned her against the tiled wall before she could respond. Opening the bottle of shower gel, I lathered it in my hands before spreading it over her body, starting from her shoulders, and then her arms and her tummy.

She stopped me when I reached her butt. “I said both at once,” she murmured.

I moved down to her thighs and grabbed them as tightly as I could manage with my hands still slippery with soap. “Jump,” I said.

So she did, wrapping her legs comfortably around me and letting me slip into her at the same time. She groaned in pleasure as I started moving my hips, pinning her against the wall as I moved my soapy hands back to her stomach. Gently rubbing in circles, I moved to her bare breasts, hearing her suck in a sharp breath of air as I massaged them. She threw her head back against the wall, her mouth open and panting slightly.

Once her upper body was covered with soap, I returned my hands to her thighs and thrust myself deeper into her, feeling her lips return to mine as I did so. Her hands moved into my hair and pulled my face more tightly against hers, our lips smashing together, moving together as one.

As I moved harder and quicker, relishing in the feeling of her soapy skin against mine, she moved her face slowly beside my ear. “You feel…so good…baby,” she panted.

“You feel so good, yourself,” I whispered back. And then, as she landed more soft kisses down my neck and my shoulder, I felt her tightening. “Quietly, baby,” I put my lips around her earlobe gently. “We don’t want anyone to hear, do we?”

She giggled and nodded, burying her face in the crook of my neck as we moved in unison, her body moving to meet mine, for a few more times. Slowly, beautifully, she tightened around me and then let go, shuddering slightly, her teeth sinking into my shoulder as she did so, in order to silence any sound she was going to make.

“Oh, Toni,” she moaned into my neck as her body stiffened against mine. And that was my cue, like a spell she cast on me, and I came gloriously into her, gritting my teeth to prevent myself from yelling.

She flopped onto my shoulder as I finished. “Oh, baby,” she whimpered, exhausted. “We should do it against the wall more.”

I laughed. “We should do it more. Like, anywhere at all.”

She smacked me on the shoulder. “Why are you always so horny? I can’t keep up.”

“What are you talking about? You always keep me up. You know…there.”

She groaned in resignation. “Whatever, Toni.”

I laughed again and pulled out of her gently. Grabbing the bottle of shower gel again, I knelt down to soap her gorgeous long legs, but not before stopping and giving her a gentle peck at her pelvis.

“You liked that?” I directed the question at her pubic region.

Gabi laughed, the wonderful sound echoing around the bathroom. “She says yes, she loved it.”

“She?”

“Yes!” she smacked me on the head. “How can it be a boy?”

“Good point,” I laughed, standing up. “Turn around, baby.”

She did, and I wrapped one arm around her waist as I reached over in front to wash her lady parts as gently as I could, not sure if she would like it. As always, she read my mind and recognised my uncertainty, so she leaned into my embrace, her back to my front, and turned her head slightly around to smile at me.

With her approval, I continued washing her more confidently, after which I turned her around and pulled her under the shower, watching as she closed her eyes, smiled contentedly and embraced the warm water running down her hair and her beautiful, beautiful body.

Suddenly, she grabbed my hand and pulled me under the water together with her. “You’re soapy, too,” she giggled, running her hands in circles on my torso, getting rid of all the soap bubbles that were there from earlier, when we were passionately pressed together.

Letting the water run over us, I grabbed her face in my hands and kissed her gently on the lips. “Thank you, Gabriele,” I whispered.

She smiled. “Had fun?”

“I always have fun when I’m with you.”

Her smile turned into a grin. She checked herself for any remaining bubbles, and then twirled me around to do the same before she turned off the shower. Stepping out of the shower with her, I grabbed a towel from the towel rack and carefully wrapped her hair up, and then I grabbed another one and wrapped it around her, rubbing gently to dry her off.

I patted her legs with it, down her left and up her right, only to see her gazing at me with a look of complete awe as I stood back up.

“What is it?” I asked.

“You,” she whispered. “Just…you. And everything you’re doing.”

“You like it?”

“I do,” she whispered again.

I smiled and reached over to cup her cheek. “As long as you like it, baby.”

“Thank you,” her voice trembled. “Thank you, Toni.”

“Hey, don’t cry, okay?” I kissed away the tears that were brimming in her eyes.

“Happy tears,” she mumbled. “Because you make me the happiest girl alive.”

“You do the same to me, Gabi.”

She laughed through her tears. “I make you a happy girl?”

“Yeah,” I humoured her. “Because you make me all happy and giggly and dizzy around you.”

She laughed again, more loudly this time. “Don’t be sexist.”

“Come on, let’s get you dry,” I laughed along, wiping off the last droplets of water.

She decided to use the same towel on me, grabbing it and wiping me off, eager to reciprocate all that I’d done. But suddenly, she gasped and froze with the towel in mid-air, hovering over my shoulder.

“What?” I asked. “Anything wrong?”

She looked at me in dismay. “I didn’t bring any clothes,” she whispered.

I laughed at her response, and she pouted. “Okay, okay,” I relented. “I think I have an extra shirt somewhere.”

She giggled. “Can I wear your underwear too?”

“Gabi!” I gaped at her, but she just stared back at me with her beautiful blue eyes. “Okay, fine.”

The cheeky grin returned to her face, slowly turning to a loving smile as I untied her hair from the towel and dried it gently. She grabbed another towel and did the same to my hair, the both of us just standing there in comfortable silence, drying each other’s hair. Finally, when we were done, we picked up the clothes strewn all over the bathroom floor and went back outside to put on fresh clothes.

Gabi’s POV

There was a horrified look on Toni’s face as he found an extra piece of underwear in his luggage and passed it to me. “Here, I hope this fits,” he said rather shyly.

“Why are you so shy?” I teased. “It’s not like our parts have never touched. And I’m not even touching it with this.”

“Gabi!” he exclaimed, blushing slightly.

I laughed, walking over to him and grabbing his face in both my hands. “No one has to know.”

He finally smiled and crawled into bed, patting the empty spot beside him, so I hurriedly put on the underwear and one of his extra training shirts before crawling in next to him.

“Night, baby,” he whispered into my hair, snuggling up closer to me and wrapping his arms around me.

“Night, Toni. I love you.”

“Me, too,” he murmured, and then I lost him to fatigue.

I lay there, pressed hard against his front, his arms rested protectively around me, and I couldn’t help but think about the intimacy we shared just a few minutes ago, more than anything we’d ever done together. His gentle hands on my body, cherishing it, respecting every inch of it, loving me and my entire soul. I felt like the luckiest girl alive, to have someone non-blood related love me in that way. I’d never, ever felt this loved or this cherished. And I’d never, ever felt this way; this all-consuming love for Toni, eating me up from the inside. It was the most glorious feeling ever.

I couldn’t stop a little giggle-sigh from escaping my mouth when I realised that I’d given him the authority, I’d told him he could do whatever he wanted, yet he chose to pamper me and to make me happy. I snuggled up closer to him, and the movement woke him.

“Yeah?” he mumbled. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I whispered. Before he could drift back to sleep, I turned around and placed my lips gently on his forehead. “I love you so, so, so much.”

He smiled, his eyes still closed. “I love you too, baby.”

“Congrats on your goal again.”

He sighed softly. “You gave me the best congratulations ever, Gabi.”

I smiled at the fireworks erupting from my heart, unseen by both him and me but still such a wholesome feeling. I clutched his hand in mine and lay there for the rest of the night, gazing at him sleeping peacefully with a slight smile on his face and a soft snore occasionally escaping his lips, knowing deep in my heart that he was the one for me; he was the one I had always loved and I would always love. If soulmates truly did exist, then Toni was mine; inside out or upside down, he was my soulmate.


	4. Role Reversal

Gabi’s POV

My body was almost frozen with shock as I clambered down the stairs of the Allianz Arena stands, the journey from the VIP box to the ground floor seeming to take forever. I charged out the exit and through the door only the staff knew about, scouring all the other doors in the hallway to find the one I was looking for. The one Toni was behind.

Fortunately, one of the medical staff came rushing up to me. “Gabi?” he asked. “Are you Gabi?”

“Yes,” I panted. “Yes, I am.”

“This way,” he pointed to a half-open door a short distance down the hall. “He said you’d be here.”

I thanked him briefly and ran as fast as I could into the room, only to see Toni lying there, looking completely helpless as a few men checked his thigh.

“Toni!” I rushed over to his side. “What happened?”

“Hey, baby,” he forced a smile and nearly failed. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine!” I said urgently. “Where does it hurt? What happened?”

“Shhh, baby,” he grabbed my hand tightly. “I just…felt a little pain as I ran. Don’t worry.”

“I can’t not worry!” I exclaimed, burying my face in my shoulder. “Does it hurt? A lot?”

“No, Gabi, it doesn’t,” he sounded a little frustrated, and that told me that it  _did_  hurt, contrary to what he was trying to convince me. “I’ll be fine.”

I lifted my head back up, deciding that I should be strong for him. I reached over and combed through his hair with my fingers. “I’ll be here,” I whispered. “All the way. I’ll be here.”

His expression softened as he smiled, more genuinely this time. That little change left me in tears which came out of nowhere, falling out of my eyes and onto his shirt. His face fell when he saw me crying. “Baby, please don’t cry,” he soothed, turning over and pressing my face into his chest, much to the doctor’s annoyance.

“I was so scared,” I whimpered. “When you stopped…when you lay there…I was so scared.”

“I’m fine now, see? I’m here.”

“Be strong, baby,” I whispered, sweeping his messy hair out of his face as the doctor turned him back to face the ceiling.

“I will,” he promised. “As long as you do, too.”

I slid my fingers in between his. “Okay,” I lifted his hand and kissed the back of it.

“Scan tomorrow,” the doctor said, pulling the leg of Toni’s shorts back down to his knee.

Toni nodded, and one of the staff turned on a TV which was showing a live broadcast of the match that was happening outside. Then they all retreated out of the room and left the both of us alone.

I bit my lip hard to stop my tears from falling, hoping that Toni wouldn’t spot me doing so. He’d always been so strong, training so hard and keeping so fit. I didn’t remember him having any sort of injury as serious as this one before. He couldn’t even walk off by himself.

Much to my relief, he was thoroughly engrossed in the match, his mouth falling open slightly as he followed all the action intently. The sight of his childlike innocence and pure interest in the game brought a smile to my face.

He finally turned around to gape at me as the final whistle was blown. “What?” he asked when he saw the expression on my face.

I reached over and ruffled his hair up. “You’re so cute.”

As if he’d just realised his mouth was open, he closed it hastily. “I’m happy you think so,” he said dryly.

I laughed as I heard the clatter of football boots in the hallway outside. “I think we have visitors,” I whispered as the door opened and the room began to smell of sweat.

He rolled his eyes in mock disgust as the other guys barged in rowdily and crowded around his little bed, asking him if he was alright and if he needed any help. I tried to stand up and go to the corner to give them more space, but Toni suddenly grabbed my hand and kept me beside him, squeezing it gently and smiling encouragingly at me.

I sat back down on my chair and listened as they all chatted up a storm, dripping sweat and all, creating a huge ruckus in the small room. Suddenly, I felt a bout of claustrophobia, not being able to handle all the noise and the tiny space. Squeezing Toni’s hand to get his attention, I mouthed “washroom” at him, before weaving as discreetly as I could through the crowd and to the relatively quieter corridor outside.

Once outside, I couldn’t help but let my tears fall; all those tears I’d tried so hard to keep in. It hurt me so much to see Toni sitting there helplessly, and how he was putting on a brave face for me and for the rest of the team. I’d willed myself not to cry in front of him, just so he wouldn’t feel worse, but that horrible feeling in turn was drilling a hole in me.

I slid down with my back against the wall and crouched on the floor at the end of the hallway, sobbing quietly into my knees, silently praying that Toni would be fine soon, and that he wouldn’t feel so much pain.

I listened, my head still down and my face hidden, as they left the room and headed back to the locker room. But there was a lone pair of cleats clacking their way towards me, until they stopped right beside me.

“Gabriele, you okay?” Basti’s soothing voice said softly.

I hastily wiped my face on my sleeves before looking up at him. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I forced a smile.

“He’ll be fine,” he smiled back, squatting down next to me. “Don’t worry too much.”

“I don’t know how I can help him,” I whispered, realising that that was the biggest problem, the thing I was worried about the most.

“Just stay by his side, and be strong. There’s nothing more you can do. You need to be strong, Gabriele. He needs you.”

“Thank you, Basti,” I smiled, genuinely this time.

“Do you need help getting home? I can drive you.”

“It’s okay, I think I can handle him.”

He laughed softly. “Look at you. He’s all muscle and you’re all bone. I don’t think you can carry him. Go get his things from the locker room, I’ll meet you back in the medical room when I’m done.”

I thanked him as he got up and headed for the showers, popping back in the room to tell Toni about Basti’s offer before heading off to pack his things.

Maybe I was too dazed and confused to comprehend the amount of time that passed, but it seemed like we were home, showered and in bed in the ground floor guestroom in the blink of an eye. I grabbed an extra pillow and a heat pack for Toni’s leg and tucked him in comfortably before lying down next to him.

He opened his arms and beckoned me into them, but I shook my head and glanced at his thigh, and he pouted.

“Can we switch sides?” he asked eagerly.

I rolled my eyes playfully at him and moved to his left, helping him slide gently over to my side. And then I could snuggle up to him without touching his injured right leg.

“Thank you, baby,” I heard him whisper as I was drifting off to sleep. “You’ve been really strong.”

“ _You’ve_  been really strong,” I mumbled.

“I love you,” he added.

“I love you, too,” I smiled. “Sleep. Gabi’s orders.”

He laughed and kissed me on the head, before all was quiet and I fell asleep in his arms, my favourite place in the entire world.

Toni’s POV

Gabi took an entire two weeks of unpaid leave in order to stay at home and take care of me, conscientiously taking care of all my needs and basically just everything I couldn’t do on my own. She cooked for me every single day for the past week and accompanied me to the hospital every time I had to go. I didn’t realise how it was all taking a toll on her until I spotted her peacefully asleep on one of the hospital chairs in the waiting room.

I hobbled over to her in my crutches and sat down. “Gabi, baby,” I called, and she opened her eyes and stared at me, slightly dazed. “Let’s go home.”

She sat upright and opened her eyes as wide as they would go. “What did the doctor say?”

“It’s slightly better,” I informed her, and she grinned. “Let’s go home, baby.”

She stood up and helped me along, walking slowly and silently by my side all the way to the car. After helping me into the passenger seat and placing the crutches in the back, she slid into the driver’s seat with a soft sigh.

“Tired?” I asked her.

She shook her head and smiled, emphasizing the dark rings under her eyes. “I’m glad you’re better.”

“Have you been sleeping well?”

“Yeah,” she said, starting the engine and steering out of the parking lot, using that as an excuse to avoid my gaze.

We sat in silence all the way to my doorstep (or  _our_  doorstep, since she was practically living with me), where I grabbed her hand and stopped her from getting out of the car.

“Are you really okay?” I asked her.

“Yeah, I am,” she gazed at me questioningly.

I stroked her dark circles with my thumbs. “You look really tired.”

She closed her eyes and sighed. “I am, but that’s not a problem, okay? Let’s go inside.”

“Have you really been sleeping well?”

“I have,” she repeated, opening her eyes only to see me furrowing my eyebrows at her, and she relented. “Okay, I haven’t.”

“Why?”

She reached out and caressed my cheek. “I worry about you, Toni. If you’re sleeping well. If your leg is going to fall off the pillow as you sleep. And if your heat pack has turned cold. I worry if your leg hurts, baby. I wake up to check on you every two hours, and change your heat pack. And then I can’t go back to sleep. I know you don’t notice, but it’s a habit now, okay? I can’t stop. I don’t want to stop.”

My heart softened and then fell when I heard her reasons. I smacked myself internally as I realised that my heat pack was always warm even on the morning after, but I never questioned why. “You don’t have to do that,” I whispered.

“I want to, baby. It hurts me so much. I want you to feel comfortable as you can.”

“But you’re so tired,” I swept her hair out of her face. “I hate seeing you so tired. Because of me.”

“It’s okay, honey,” she smiled. “I’m not going to work, anyway. I have nothing else to do.”

“You’re still helping to edit articles!” I retorted.

“That’s just a little bit,” she shook her head, pulled out of my grasp and opened the door. “Let’s go in, okay?”

There was almost a painful look on her face as she watched me navigate the front steps. I headed straight towards the room, but she shook her head and pointed to the bathroom.

“Shower,” she said. “Hospital. Germs.”

She was too tired to even speak in longer sentences. “Can I shower myself?” I asked.

“No!” she exclaimed, rolling her eyes at me and then storming into the bathroom herself. Moments later, her head popped out around the doorframe. “Hurry up!”

Dismissing her bad mood as due to lack of sleep, I followed her into the bathroom obediently. She patiently sat me down on the plastic stool in the shower and stripped me of all my clothing, and then she sprayed warm water all over me, making herself all wet in the process. I’d been through this routine more times than I could count for the past week, but I couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of amazement as I watched her shower me.

And then I realised – this was what she would have felt if she’d known that I was taking care of her while she was sleeping in that hospital bed. This was what I had been doing for her. And now, she was doing it for me. I was sure she wasn’t aware of this parallel, but it tugged at somewhere deep within me nonetheless; it was as if I was reliving that period of time, except this time I was the receiver – a period of time I wanted to forget.

With all the fuss around my thigh, I’d forgotten about Gabi’s special day tomorrow. I had had such big plans for yesterday as a premature celebration, having been scheduled to leave for Italy for the second leg, but it’d totally slipped my mind after succumbing to this injury. As I watched her tending to me in the shower, I decided that I should at least try to make up for it, even though she hadn’t know about my plans before.

She gingerly pressed on my injured thigh as she always did, to give it a gentle massage. “Does it hurt?” she asked.

I shook my head, so she continued with the same amount of stress, rubbing the muscle gently as she was taught by the doctor. I slowly leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I’m sorry, baby. Don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad,” she mumbled as she finished the massage and grabbed a towel to dry me off.

“Can you promise me something?”

“What is it?”

“Please don’t wake up to check on me tonight. I’ll be fine. I promise.”

She sighed, relenting. “Okay, I’ll try.”

After helping me dress, she helped me back into the guestroom and told me, “I’ll shower. Go to sleep first if you’re tired. I love you, good night.”

I gave her a sweet kiss on her lips, relieved to feel her finally smile against them, and watched as she dragged her feet back to the bathroom. I was almost asleep when she returned to tuck a pillow under my knee and place a heat pack on my thigh before climbing in next to me and kissing me gently on the head.

“Sleep well, baby,” she whispered.

“Sleep well yourself,” I whispered back. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. More than anything else in this world.”


	5. Birthday Girl

Toni’s POV

It was barely seven in the morning when I woke up. My heat pack was hot and Gabi was fast asleep. I shook my head in loving annoyance and smiled at her blissful sleeping face before grabbing two band-aids and sticking them under my crutches so they wouldn’t make a sound.

Slowly, I made my way to the kitchen and fished around in the shelves for the baking tray my mum used to use. It was Gabi’s birthday and my planned premature surprise for her had slipped my mind with the constant hospital visits and therapy sessions. With the simple baking supplies that were lying around my kitchen, I set out to bake a simple birthday cake for Gabi to make up for the failed surprise.

Gabi’s POV

A loud metallic clang woke me from my sleep, which was arguably more peaceful than I’d slept for the past week.

“Who’s that?” I asked Toni.

There was no answer.

I turned my head towards his side and opened my eyes only to see his sheets ruffled and his person missing, crutches and all. Confused, I got up and ran out of the room towards the source of the sound.

Toni was there in the kitchen, a metal mixing bowl at his feet, and staring at the entrance warily as if he was afraid that I’d appear there. Indeed, he cringed as I stood there glaring at him.

“What are you doing?!” I demanded.

“Uhhhh…” he shrugged. “Happy birthday?”

I froze. “Oh.”

With his crutches barely making a sound, he made his way around the metal bowl and stopped in front of me. “The cake is in the oven. Let’s wait outside.”

“Toni, I…you baked a cake?”

“Yeah,” he grinned proudly. “I baked a cake for you.”

“You could have just told me if you wanted a cake! What did you think you were doing, baking cakes with this leg of yours? What if you hurt yourself again? Why are you being so disobedient?”

He stared at me, the fear in his eyes being replaced by a hint of humour before he suddenly burst out laughing.

“What?” I demanded again, but he continued laughing. “TONI, WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?!”

“You,” he half-choked.

“What’s so funny?” I whined.

He finally calmed down and stared at me with tears of laughter still brimming in his eyes. Slowly, he reached over and leaned his left crutch on the kitchen counter. With his left arm, he reached over to me and pulled me in for a hug.

“You sound just like my mum,” he whispered into my hair. “And I love my mum,” he added, just in case.

I sighed in resignation. “Can you please go and rest now?”

He nodded and picked up his other crutch again while I picked up the mixing bowl and went over to the oven to inspect whatever it was that was baking inside. He hobbled his way over to me and watched with me.

“What flavour is it?” I asked him.

From the reflection on the oven door, I caught him grinning again. “Chocolate.”

I reached for the back of his head and pulled his lips against mine. “Thank you, baby. You really didn’t have to.”

“Did you forget it was your birthday?”

I giggled. “Yeah.”

“So…surprise!” he suddenly wrapped an arm around me and lifted me in the air.

“TONI!” I yelled. “Is the sole purpose of your existence to make me angry?”

“No, baby,” he put me down and reached over to pick up the crutch that had fallen on the ground. “My purpose is to love you, and cherish you, and take care of you, and bake cakes for you.”

I rolled my eyes, and he laughed. “Bed?” I asked.

He nodded eagerly, so I walked behind him as he made his way back into the room. He gave a long sigh as I settled down next to him, pulling me into his embrace. “Happy birthday, baby,” he said again.

“Thank you,” I whispered as I snuggled up to him. “I’m getting old.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get anything for you.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. He was injured and he still wanted to buy me a gift. “Toni, you’re the best gift ever in the history of gifts ever given.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” I smiled. “Plus, I’ll always have us.”

“Aww,” he leaned over and kissed my head gently. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, baby,” I sighed and closed my eyes, suddenly feeling tired. “And if Bayern win tonight, it’ll be the best gift ever.”

“They will,” I heard him say as I drifted off to my second round of sleep. “Night, baby,” he whispered.

Toni’s POV

Gabi fell asleep within seconds. I lay and watched as her breathing became regular, staying as still as I could with my arm still under her neck.

When the cake was ready, the oven gave a loud ding, causing me to cringe and turn my head towards Gabi. Much to my relief, she just mumbled incoherently before rolling over and continuing to sleep.

I slipped out of bed as quietly as possible, making use of my modified silent crutches to move to the kitchen and check on the cake. I went to wait on the couch while it cooled on the kitchen counter, but I realised that I should probably write some words across the top, so I set out to search for cake icing in the fridge – heaving a sigh of relief as I found a tube in white.

In my best handwriting (which wasn’t very nice), I wrote “Happy 23rd birthday Gabriele” across the round surface and added a big heart at the end, knowing and imagining how Gabi would roll her eyes at me when she saw it.

And then came the problem, which was getting the cake into the fridge while on crutches. Before I could figure it out, though, Julius and Lennox came charging into the kitchen, sniffing eagerly at the air, probably sensing the smell of the cake.

“No, no, no,” I held up the cake out of their reach as they stood on their hind legs and clawed at me. “It’s for mummy. Not for you. You can’t eat chocolate.”

Their ears perked up at the mention of the word ‘mummy,’ and they turned around as if to run and get Gabi.

“Oh, damn it!” I muttered. “Lennox! Julius! I have treats!”

Dogs would be dogs – they came charging back and sat down obediently at my feet, wagging their tails and their tongues.

“Stay,” I told them, and they lay their cute little heads on the ground and waited. Gently testing my right leg and finding that I could walk on it as long as I didn’t exert too much stress, I hobbled over to the fridge without my crutches and put the cake inside.

I sighed in relief and gave myself a mental pat on the back when the cake was safely in the fridge, and then I retrieved my crutches and nodded at Julius and Lennox. “Let’s go,” I told them, and they followed.

I filled their bowls before sitting on the sofa and flipping through the TV channels lazily, smiling whenever I thought of Gabi. Julius and Lennox came and snuggled up beside me, but it wasn’t until late afternoon that Gabi finally made her way out into the living room.

She stared at us huddled on the sofa, still a little dazed from sleep. I lifted one of each beagle’s front paw and used them to wave at her. “Woof woof. Happy birthday, mummy.”

She burst out laughing. “Aww, thank you,” she beamed. She ran her hands through her hair only to find that it was all tangled up from sleep. “What time is it? Did I sleep the entire day? God, I look like shit.”

Her hair was all tangled like a brown cloud above her head, her eyes were puffy and her shirt was riding up her butt, but she still looked stunning. Gabi would always look stunning to me. “You look gorgeous, baby,” I shook my head at her as she came over and sat beside us. “I’ll get some cake for you?” I asked.

“Okay,” she smiled. “Wait, I’ll get it. How are you going to get it?”

She ambled slowly into the kitchen, where there was a slight pause before she ran out with the cake and stared at me with a horrified look on her face. “The cake was  _in the fridge?!_ How the hell did you get the cake into the fridge?”

“Uhhh,” I smiled sheepishly at her. “Secret.”

Thankfully, she decided to let that slide, so she brought the cake over to the coffee table and went to grab some utensils.

“A heart?” she rolled her eyes, just as I’d expected, as she sat down and inspected the cake more closely. “So cheesy, Toni.”

I laughed. “I knew you’d roll your eyes at me.”

She picked up a knife and started to cut the cake when I stopped her. “Wait, I haven’t sung the song.”

She stared at me in disbelief. “Song? How old do you think I am?”

“Okay fine, at least make a wish.”

She put the knife back down, clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, concentrating on her wish. Moments later, her gorgeous blue eyes were back open and she was clapping her hands excitedly. “Cake!”

“What did you wish for?” I asked.

“It’s a secret,” she grinned. She cut two slices and passed a plate to me before digging hungrily into her own. “Oh, my God, it’s delicious,” she said with her mouth full. She gobbled up her first slice in seconds. And then, being the romantic she was, she carefully cut out the heart and placed it nicely on her plate. “I didn’t know you were a hearts sort of guy,” she giggled.

“I’m not a  _hearts sort of guy,_ ” I retorted. “My hearts are only drawn for you.”

Not taking her eyes off mine, she picked up the entire piece and stuffed it in her mouth. “Delicious,” she mouthed, licking her lips seductively.

There was a speck of chocolate left just below her bottom lip. I pointed to my own, telling her, “You have something here.”

She leaned closer to me until her face was inches away from mine. “Kiss it away.”

Without any hesitation, I closed the gap between us and used my tongue to wipe the drop of cream before pushing it into her mouth. She gave a satisfied moan. “Still delicious,” she mumbled.

Not stopping to unlock my lips from hers, I reached over and put my plate on the coffee table. She did the same before our hands were suddenly winding through each other’s hair. As if sensing the change in atmosphere, Lennox quickly scrambled off from the space in between Gabi and I, allowing us to move closer together.

Her hand moved down my neck and rested on my arms for a short while before moving slowly towards my thighs, seemingly wanting to pull herself into my lap before remembering my injury. Reluctantly and panting slightly, she pulled away.

“Wow,” she sighed. “Happy birthday to me.”

Her hair was even more messed up now after that short period of passion, but her eyes were a beautiful glowing blue in the early evening light. She was stunning. Simply stunning.

I gazed at her, suddenly overwhelmed yet again by the seemingly unbelievable reality that she was back with me. I grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her forehead towards my lips. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you, too,” she smiled and leaned into my arms. “Thank you for the cake. And thank you for being mine.”

“I love being yours,” I tried resting my chin on her head, but all I managed to do was sink into her huge mass of tangles.

She giggled. “Is my hair a comfortable chin pillow?”

“Your everything is a comfortable everything,” I said.

She laughed again. “Same with you.”

Gabi’s POV

Again, Toni was almost childlike with a completely interested look plastered on his face as he watched Bayern play Juventus on TV. He only turned around and noticed me staring at him when the half-time whistle blew.

“Watching the match or watching me?” he asked.

“You’re nicer to watch,” I poked his nose.

He gasped in mock horror. “I’m going to tell the others, they’re going to be so furious,” he pretended to whisper to Julius.

I played along, flopping over on the sofa seat in fake dismay. “Oh no, they’re going to hate me so much,” I whined, turning to Lennox who was sitting by my side. “Daddy’s such a big bully,” I whispered to him. In response, he sneezed into my face. “Hey!” I yelled, wiping away all the dog snot that had landed on my nose.

Toni burst out laughing. “He’s on my side.”

As if in apology, Lennox crawled onto my lap and looked up at me with pleading eyes. “Aww,” I bent over and kissed his head. “Good boy,” I said, and his tongue immediately returned to its original position hanging out of his mouth.

Toni lifted one of Lennox’s drooping ears and whispered into it, “Traitor.”

“We formed a connection when he peed on my books,” I laughed. “He was like, ‘this Gabi is mine!’”

Toni’s mouth fell open in horror. “But this Gabi is  _mine_!”

I couldn’t help but laugh again. He looked completely crestfallen, even though he knew I was joking with him; as if he really couldn’t tolerate me being somebody else’s. Even if that somebody was just Lennox.

I scooted over closer to him and grabbed his hand. “Toni, I’m joking. I’ll always be yours. You know that, right? I promise. I’ll always be yours.”

“Yeah,” he smiled at me with a hint of nostalgia in his eyes. He quickly avoided my gaze by looking at the TV, where the match was restarting. I couldn’t help but feel that he was remembering the previous year, when I wasn’t his. When I refused to be his. When I forgot I was his.

I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek as further reassurance. “I love you so much,” I whispered. “Thank you for today. It was really fun.”

He tore his gaze away from the match and placed it on me lovingly. “I love you too, baby,” and then as if confirming my suspicions, he added, “I’m never going to let you forget me again.”

——

“Best birthday present ever,” I mumbled into the front of Toni’s shirt as we settled down in bed after the match, which we’d won. I sighed. “I can’t believe I’m 23. When I’m old and wrinkly, will you still love me?”

“Baby, you haven’t showered at all today, neither have you brushed your teeth or combed your hair, and I still love you.”

Not being able to stop myself from feeling a little hurt, I smacked him on the chest. “You’re not supposed to say that to a girl!”

He laughed and lifted my head to gaze at me. “Are you angry? Don’t be angry. I’m just kidding. You smell delicious.”

“That’s because I ate your cake,” I sighed again.

“Sorry I couldn’t give you a proper celebration.”

“Shut up, it was great this way. Just you and me. You and me, that will always be enough.”

 


	6. Champion of My Heart

Gabi’s POV

Toni was only limping slightly as he returned from the Wembley washroom and sat back down next to me. He smiled, took my hand, and placed it on his lap before turning back to watch the second half.

I was a little apprehensive when he told me he was going for surgery to fix his knee problem as a way to make full use of this injury period, but everything seemed to have turned out fine afterwards. He was working hard towards full recovery, but I could tell he was still a little disappointed that he couldn’t play a part in the final.

He jumped up in joy when the final whistle blew, almost losing his balance and falling on his butt if I hadn’t grabbed him. “Careful, baby,” I laughed.

In response, he grabbed my face with both hands and planted a hard, wet kiss on my lips. “Oh, Gabi,” he pulled away and gazed at me dreamily, even though I knew that look wasn’t entirely meant for me. “We won!”

“Yeah, you did,” I beamed.

“I wish I could’ve played.”

I couldn’t help but give a loving chuckle at his forlorn face. “Come on, don’t be like that. Go collect your medal. You deserve it.”

Almost like Lennox and Julius, his eyes brightened. “I do?”

“You do, baby,” I kissed him on the cheek. “Have fun. I’ll be here.”

“I love you so much,” he gave me a hug, but before I could respond, he’d already started walking down the steps gingerly before bounding as freely as he could manage towards the rest of the team.

As I watched them line up to collect the ultimate prize, I began to be slightly relieved that Toni wasn’t standing beside me because I’d suddenly started crying. My team were the Champions League winners again. The last time I watched them lift the trophy, I was eleven. Things had been so different then.

Also, even though I refused to admit it to Toni, I was as disappointed as him that he couldn’t play. Just watching him blame himself and brood over his missed opportunity broke my heart. I couldn’t stand to add to his frustration. I wanted as much as he did for him to recover in time to play in the German Cup final, but deep inside I knew that it probably wouldn’t happen.

As always, my tears were of mixed feelings more than anything else. I sat and watched as it was Toni’s turn to lift the trophy, slightly thankful that I hadn’t assigned myself this match and that I could spend the night with Toni if he wished. That thought brought the smile back to my face, and I sat and watched Toni’s every move eagerly – still in awe, like I always would be, of the sheer magnitude of feelings that I held for him; and in awe, like I always would be, that such a wonderful boy was in love with me.

Toni’s POV

After saluting the travelling crowd, I had a drink and a few celebratory beer showers (miraculously staying dry myself) with the other guys in the locker room. And then I remembered Gabi, sitting there alone in the stands waiting for me, and I felt a pang of guilt.

As I was not part of the squad, I was free for the night until my flight the next day, scheduled differently from the rest of the team. Bidding hasty goodbyes to them, I made my way back to find Gabi.

Her lone figure was the only one left in the stands, sitting patiently in the sea of empty seats with her legs folded. “Gabi!” I called from the bottom, not wanting to bother my leg with the stairs.

She stood up eagerly and charged down towards me, enveloping me into a hug. “Fun?” she asked.

“Not as much as when I’m with you.”

“So cheesy,” she giggled. “Are you going out with them tonight?”

I shook my head. “I can’t walk properly anyway.”

“Hotel or apartment?”

Louise had kindly kept our stuff in her and Gabi’s old apartment, but there was a hotel room reserved for me if I wanted it. I preferred the apartment, especially since I’d never been there, so I told Gabi, “Apartment.”

She beamed proudly as she stuck out her hand to flag a taxi and got one on her first try. It took almost no time at all for us to reach the apartment.

It was dark when we opened the door as Louise was camped out in the hotel with her team of writers. It was late, but Gabi was not at all exhausted as she dragged me around to show me the place she’d lived in the previous year. I could only stare at her in awe as I followed her around slowly.

She finally stopped by our bags on the kitchen counter, digging through them for a while before producing a stack of clothes for me.

“Shower?” she asked. I nodded, and she attempted to follow me into the bathroom, but I stopped her.

“Can I do it myself?” I asked, and she pouted slightly. “I’m okay now, baby. Can I shower myself? You can wait for me outside.”

“Okay,” she said reluctantly, backing out of the doorway and standing there to watch me as I took my shirt off.

“Gabi, don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

She stared at me for a moment, her eyes attempting to read mine to make sure I wasn’t forcing myself, and then she checked to see if the floor was slippery. After being convinced that everything was in place and that I was going to be fine, she stepped out and closed the door, but not before saying, “Be careful, baby.”

As quickly and carefully as I could, I showered myself for the first time since six weeks ago. When I was done, I opened the bathroom door only to see Gabi sitting patiently on a kitchen stool by the kitchen counter, facing the bathroom, her chin rested on her hand.

She smiled as I approached her. “Everything okay?” she asked, a hint of worry in her eyes.

“Gabi, I’m 23. I can take care of myself.”

“You’re 23 and injured.”

I sighed. “Gabi, you look like you’ve aged five years over the past month,” I reached out and rubbed my thumbs along her dark eye circles. “I’m fine now, okay? You don’t have to worry so much about me.”

She stared at me in utter dismay. “I look that old?”

“No, baby,” I laughed. “It’s just…you look so tired all the time.”

Suddenly, she stood up, reached over and wrapped both her arms tightly around me. “I love you so much,” she whispered.

“I love you too, Gabriele,” I smiled. “More than anything or anyone else. Now go and shower, okay?”

She gave me a sweet, lingering kiss before turning and going for her shower. I decided to wait for her just like she did for me, so I took her seat on the kitchen stool.

She grinned when she re-emerged and saw me there. “Aww,” she giggled. “Copycat.”

She hooked her arm in mine and walked with me back into her bedroom. The bed was small, having being meant only for her, but it was a snug fit for us both.

I picked up my bag, took out the Champions League medal and passed it to her. “For you, baby.”

A dreamy smile spread across her face as she took it from me and stroked it lovingly, as if she couldn’t believe it was really in her hands. Then she gave a soft laugh as she said, “I just realised I’m dating a Bayern player.”

“You  _just_  realised?” I poked her in the ribs. “Gabi, we’ve been together since we were seventeen, and you just realised?”

“That’s a long time,” she whispered, giggling.

“Gabriele, you wound me.”

That made her burst out in laughter, shaking the bed. “Aww, I’m sorry, baby. Want me to kiss you better?”

I puckered my lips in response, and she leaned over to kiss me, gently placing the medal back in my hand and closing my fingers over it in the process. “You deserve this more than you know,” she whispered.

“I love you,” I whispered back.

“I love you, too,” she smiled and tucked her head into the crook of my neck. “Good night, baby.”

Gabi’s POV

I woke up to something hard pressing against my back and Toni’s hot breath on the back of my neck. I tried to turn around to see what was going on, but he grabbed me and pressed me more tightly against him.

“Baby,” he mumbled, so sensually it almost sounded like a moan.

It was then that I realised what was the hard thing that was pressing against me. “Toni!” I yelled. “Stop poking me with that thing.”

“Gabiiiiiii,” he whined. “I want you. Please.”

I turned around to face him, trying to ignore his boner pressing against my crotch. “I don’t want to hurt you,” I whispered.

He grabbed my face and shoved his tongue into my mouth. “You can be on top,” he said, pulling me on top of him as he spoke.

“No,” I climbed off. “Baby, I’m sorry.”

He sighed and draped an arm over his eyes. “Okay.”

I sat on my legs and watched him as he lay there, unmoving and probably trying to slow his racing heart. I felt that being his girlfriend, I had to help him somehow, but I really didn’t want to accidentally injure him. Suddenly, I had an idea. I reached over and pulled down his shorts and underwear.

His hand flew off his face and his eyes sprung open. “We’re gonna do it?” he asked eagerly.

Oh, Toni, always so feisty. I grabbed him in my hand and stroked him up and down. “What will I get if I take you in my mouth?”

He gaped at me. “You don’t have to do that.”

I looked back at his man area. In all the years we’d been together, I’d never taken him in my mouth before. Looking back at him and seeing that he was gazing at me with curiosity, lust and pure awe all rolled perfectly into one, I bent over and pushed him into my mouth without another word.

He gave a loud moan which could have been mistaken as one of pain by someone who was in the vicinity. I heard him suck in a deep breath of air as I started moving up and down more quickly, my tongue swirling his tip.

I opened my eyes and glanced to the side only to see that he’d propped himself up on his elbows to watch, still in awe. He squeezed his eyes shut in pleasure as I made another swirl at his tip, tasting the slight saltiness.

Suddenly, he grabbed me by the waist, pulled my shorts and underwear down as I did with his, and dragged me on top of him so that I was straddling his face.

“Nice view, baby,” he said in admiration as he gently teased me with his fingers. “This is what you’re gonna get,” I heard him say, blowing a puff of air at my lady parts as he did so, before his tongue plunged deep into me, sending a wave of pleasure rocketing through me so hard that I almost bit down on him.

I pushed him as deep as I could take him before pulling him out again, amazed that I did it without gagging. I did it a few times, feeling a sense of satisfaction when I heard and felt him breathing loudly against me.

His hands moved around to my butt, grabbing each side gently and massaging them as his tongue and lips worked their magic. Instinctively, I pushed myself further back into his face while continuing to work on him. He gave another moan, this time against me, sending pleasant vibrations through my every cell starting from my lady parts.

His hips started moving to their own rhythm, moving up to meet my mouth as his tongue matched it at the other end of me. It was so intense, the fullness in my mouth and the simulation at my sensitive parts. I couldn’t help but match his movements, moving to meet his tongue as he did to meet mine.

I started to feel a little more saltiness in my mouth and I knew he was going to finish, so I went a little harder and a little faster, using my hand to rub his shaft. As usual, as if he knew what I was thinking, he removed his face from my crotch and said, “Gabi, take it out.”

I continued.

“Gabi, I don’t want to do it in your mouth.”

“Shhh,” I removed him briefly to whisper, intentionally sending a gust of air across his tip and making him shudder. Just as I returned him between my lips, he came. He came magnificently inside my mouth. It was so warm. And salty. Everything was salty. Momentarily confused about what I was supposed to do, I swallowed reflexively.

He moaned again as he emptied himself, arching his back off the bed and pressing harder and deeper into me both in my mouth and on the other end, his tongue slipping in and out. As he came down from his orgasm, one of his hands moved to my breast under my t-shirt and caressed it gently, while the other snaked to the opening of my lady parts, where a finger suddenly slipped inside, heightening the intensity.

I clung on to his waist and buried my face in his perfectly sculpted abs to muffle my voice. And then as he moved faster and faster, his tongue as slick as a snake and his fingers hitting exactly the right spot – it was my turn. I exploded, figuratively and almost literally, shuddering as wave after wave of complete pleasure rocked my body. I never knew doing this would be so intense. And so satisfying.

I rolled off Toni as I returned back to earth, lying there with my feet next to his head and his next to mine, the both of us panting heavily.

“Oh, God,” he breathed. “We should do that more often.”

I put my foot across his eyes and kicked his face gently. “Just this once. One-time Champions League celebratory event.”

“Really?” he sounded a little disappointed. He picked up my foot and kissed the arch. “But you’re so delicious.”

“Toni!” I whined, wanting to yell at him but being too exhausted to do so.

He laughed, sitting up and pulling my arms so I was facing him. “You’re the best girlfriend ever,” he said, stroking my hair gently.

“Only because I give great sex?” I pretended to look offended.

“Because your everything,” he wrapped me in a big hug. “I love you, baby. Sorry I came in your mouth,” he released me and used his thumb to stroke my lower lip gently.

“You’re delicious, too,” I whispered, and he chuckled. It was almost a giggle. Listening to it made me so happy. “Is your leg okay?”

“You didn’t touch it, so it’s fine,” he grinned mischievously. “I should get injured more often so we can do this all the time.”

“Toni!” I smacked him on the nose. “Don’t you dare say that.”

He laughed his beautiful laugh and took me in his arms again. I leaned in eagerly, contented not only because I’d managed to calm his boner and satisfy his needs, but also because we tried something new; and that meant we were growing as a couple. I smiled, convinced that we would always be growing as long as we could find new ways to love each other – just as we did on that morning.

Toni’s POV

Gabi and I dragged our feet out into the living room to make breakfast, only to have Louise and Josef barge in through the front door just as the kettle was boiling.

I nodded at Josef, who smiled at me hesitantly. It was the first time we’d met since more than three years ago in Cologne.

“Breakfast?” Louise chirped, brandishing a few takeaway sandwiches and coffee.

“No thanks, already eaten,” I licked my lips and looked at Gabi pointedly. She blushed a beautiful shade of pink.

“Already eaten? What did you eat? Where –“ she stopped and gaped at me. I licked my lips again. She glanced at Gabi, who blushed an even deeper shade of pink. Then she closed her eyes, dropped the sandwiches back on the table and buried her face in her hands. “Oh, my God! Oh, sweet lord! Holy Mother Mary sweet child of Jesus, what have I gotten myself into? Jesus Christ!”

Josef just stood there, clutching his stomach and bending over the kitchen counter in laughter. “I bet that was what Gabi was yelling earlier,” he managed to choke out.

“JOSEF!!!” Louise exclaimed as I reached over and high-fived him, while Gabi couldn’t help but burst out laughing as well. “Oh, my God, you guys. I am so done with you three.”

She threw her arms in the air and stomped into her room, so Josef went after her, dragged her back out and put her down on the sofa before coming back to grab the food and inviting us to join them. I felt more at ease finally seeing him again and knowing that he wasn’t going after my girlfriend anymore, so I gladly sat next to him and answered all his curious questions about how I’d been.

I glanced over at Gabi, who was talking animatedly to Louise about some girl thing, and she happened to make eye contact with me; it made her immediately stop everything she was doing, reach over, grab the back of my neck and pull me in for a kiss, even though Louise and Josef were there.

“I love you,” she murmured.

Her totally random kiss resulted in a burst of emotion through my body, and I couldn’t help but think once again – how was it possible to love someone so much? But at the same time, it didn’t matter, because when it came to my Gabriele, nothing else would matter as long as I was able to protect her. Because she meant the most to me in the entire world.

“I love you too, baby,” I pulled away and gave her another kiss on her head.

She gave me another lingering look before she went back to her conversation with Louise; a look filled with joy, wonder and absolute love – a look I knew was reserved specially for me.


	7. Mrs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song accompanying this chapter is Yellow by Coldplay.

Gabi’s POV

I had taken so many days off work that I was sure the bosses were annoyed, to say the least. But I just couldn’t resist when Toni suggested that we visit Greece again during the summer holidays.

“I’m going to get fired because of you,” I complained to him for the millionth time as we landed in Santorini.

“You won’t,” he gave my nose a friendly pinch. “I’m sure they all lurrrrrrrrve you.”

“You’re such a bad influence, Toni.”

“I know,” he grinned proudly.

He’d gotten a big suite in Oia for the both of us even though I’d tried to tell him that it wasn’t necessary. He said he wanted everything to be perfect. I had no idea why. But all my doubts about his overspending were put aside as we stepped into the suite and were greeted by a magnificent sea view from high up on the cliff, complete with a private infinity pool on the balcony, a big wooden four-poster bed and a bright modern kitchen area.

“Wow,” I whispered, with Toni silent by my side, seemingly also amazed at what his money got him.

“You like it?” he finally asked after we stood frozen for a few moments.

I turned and hugged him tightly. “I’ve never been this happy to have a rich boyfriend.”

He burst out laughing and placed his lips gently on the top of my head. “Anything for you, baby.”

“What do you wanna do now?” I asked.

Without another word, he leaned over and scooped me off my feet, making me squeal in surprise. “First, we have to do what we do best…on any surface,” an all-star mischievous grin split his face in two. “Bed or pool?”

Although the pool was tempting, the bed looked extremely comfortable. “Bed,” I giggled.

Eagerly, he carried me over to the bed and placed me down gently before climbing in between my legs. “Ready, baby?”

“Always,” was all I managed to murmur before he sunk on to me again and I was completely lost in the familiar, wondrous feeling of his skin against mine.

Toni’s POV

The setting sun cast a glorious red hue over Gabi’s bare shoulders as she stood at the edge of the chest-high end of the pool looking out at the blue Oia rooftops, which were almost purple in the light. I waded my way through the water and stood by her side silently, as she looked deeply engrossed in her thoughts and I didn’t want to disrupt her.

Suddenly, without turning around, she asked me, “Can I talk to you about something?”

“Of course, Gabi.”

“The first time we came here to Greece…it was fun, but it was with our parents. Then, the second time…” her voice became a whisper. “The second time…I…I didn’t remember you.”

“Gabi…” I urged her to stop, knowing where she was going with this.

“This place makes me so happy,” she continued despite my mild protest, smiling sadly at the horizon. “This time, we’re alone. We’re truly alone, just us. No parents, and we didn’t come here because I was finding something I lost.”

She paused for a long moment before sighing softly. “Do you think…if the accident hadn’t happened…where do you think we’d be today? Do you think…we’d still be us?”

I reached over and tucked a stray curl of hair behind her ear. “Of course. If I had a choice, I’d always be with you. Forever and ever.”

“That second time when we came here in the winter…does it make you sad?”

“I was sad then, but now…now it doesn’t make me sad anymore.”

“Why?”

“Because I have you now, Gabi. Santorini will always be the place you became mine.”

Suddenly, she turned to me and wrapped her arms tightly around me. “I’m so sorry, Toni,” she whispered into my shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

“What are you sorry about?” I tried to pull her away, but she refused to budge. “Don’t be sorry, baby.”

“I forgot you,” she started sobbing. “I forgot who you were.”

“Gabi, that’s not your fault.”

“It’s not your fault either, but you keep apologising,” she wept. “I’m sorry, Toni. I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine…I can’t imagine how much it hurt you. And there I was, just sleeping my days away…and even when I woke, I just went by with my life without much thought about you. I’m so sorry. I should have…I should have remembered.”

“Baby…” I sighed, running my hand down her hair. “That was ages ago. We’re fine now, aren’t we? I’ll always be here. Always. You can’t shake me off even if you want to.”

“I don’t want to,” she sobbed, choking slightly on her tears. “I just…it’s just…I…I feel so guilty. You’ve done all these things for me, and I…I’ve done nothing.”

“You haven’t done nothing, Gabi. You’ve done so much for me, you don’t even know. You’ve stuck by me all this while and you’ve done all you can for me. You…you got hit by that car because you wanted to save me. And then you believed me when I told you I was your best friend. And you let me be by your side. On that night when we first kissed under your window, you let me kiss you. You let me be with you, Gabriele, and that’s all I would ever want. That is all I would ever ask for. Because loving you…loving you is such a wonderful feeling, you know? It’s the best feeling in the entire world. I love loving you.”

She started sobbing harder, wrapping her arms so tightly around my waist that I almost couldn’t breathe. “You see?” she choked. “I can’t even say smooth things like that.”

“You can’t,” I turned and kissed the back of her ear. “Because it’s copyrighted. By me.”

She laughed, her tears still falling and landing on my shoulder. “You make me so happy, baby,” she whispered.

“To put it very simply and unromantically,” I stroked her bare back gently. “You’re the only one who can give me a boner and then calm it.”

She laughed even harder. “What…do you mean…there are other people who can give you a boner but can’t calm it?”

“No! Oh, you know what I mean, stop being a tease.”

“I don’t,” she giggled. “Explain it to me, Toni.”

“Okay, fine,” I rolled my eyes behind her back. “There  _might_  be other people who can calm my boner, but you’re the only one who can give me one. And even though these other people might exist somewhere in this world, you’re the only one whom I’ll allow to calm my boner. There!”

“Aww, that’s not unromantic at all,” she smacked me on the backside, producing a huge splash of water.

I laughed. “Don’t be sad anymore, okay baby? Or guilty. Or anything bad. Because you deserve everything happy in this world, Gabi. Besides, that’s  _so last year_ ,” I said, referring to her reaction whenever I brought the topic up.

I felt her smile and nod against my shoulder. “Okay,” she whispered. “I love loving you, too.”

“Hey, that’s my line!”

“It’s mine now,” she giggled. “Just like you.”

“That’s my line, too. Stop stealing my lines!”

“You stole my heart, so we’re even.”

“Gabi, your heart is worth much more than just a few lines.”

She sighed contentedly. “We’re going to have such a great time here this time. By ourselves.”

“We are,” I promised, smiling knowingly to myself with the secret plan that I’d hatched and which Gabi knew nothing about.

Gabi’s POV

Unfortunately, we only got to stay in that amazing suite for three nights. Nonetheless, to say that we enjoyed it was an understatement. We  _more than_ enjoyed it. It was the best, most beautiful, most peaceful place to ever sleep in, and watching the sunset and sunrise (literally and figuratively) with Toni was the most romantic thing to do.

Before finally leaving for Perissa on our fourth morning, Toni dragged me to the ruins of an old medieval castle.

“I didn’t know you were interested in history stuff,” I teased.

“I’m not,” he retorted. “There’s something we must do here.”

Intrigued, I let him drag me through the path to an outdoor bridge, where there were other couples milling around. On the bridge rail hung a few locks, marking the start of yet another love locks bridge.

“Look, we’re one of the first,” Toni beamed proudly.

“You’re so old-fashioned,” I poked him in the ribs.

“Well, you love me anyway, so joke’s on you,” he said. I rolled my eyes and stayed silent, because it was true that I loved him for all his quirks. From his pocket, he brandished a gleaming silver lock and a small pocket knife and handed them to me. “Would you like to do the honours?”

I took them from him and carefully carved the letters T and K on the surface of the lock; a rather easy task given how shiny the surface and how sharp the knife was. Then, much to Toni’s surprise, I handed the things back to him. “You write mine,” I told him.

It was his turn to roll his eyes playfully as he took them. “Look who’s the old-fashioned one now?”

“I had a good teacher,” I giggled. I peered over curiously as he finished carving the letters G and M below the ones I’d written. “Draw a heart, like the one on my cake,” I urged.

He burst out laughing. “See, you liked that heart! To think that you rolled your eyes at it.”

“Shut up and carve it!”

So he did, a cute little typical-Toni-handwriting crooked heart that separated the letters TK and GM. I watched as he painstakingly coloured it in using the knife before holding the lock out for us to admire.

“Who’s gonna hang it?” he asked, fishing for the key and unlocking it.

“Let’s do it together,” I grabbed his hands and led them to the railing, following his movements as he hooked it around a rail and pushed to lock it. We stepped back to admire it as it glittered beautifully in the morning sun, a representation of our love.

“Together forever,” Toni whispered.

“No, you forgot about this,” I took his hand and placed it on my Toni and Gabi necklace. “Together eightever. Because four times two is eight.”

He burst out laughing, a beautiful sound which travelled far in the wind. “You’re so lame, Gabi.”

“Oh, man,” I pouted. “I thought that was good. I was trying to be smooth.”

He leaned over to kiss me gently on the lips. “It was great, baby.”

“Why aren’t you throwing the key?” I asked as I noticed him putting the key back in his pocket instead of throwing it away.

A cheeky smile split his face. “I’ll tell you later.”

——

The journey to Perissa was quite a long one, but I was aptly entertained by the endless conversations with Toni. It was so nice to just sit next to him and talk to him, especially since we were finally alone and away on our own, carefree and unworried, not having to be bothered about our usual daily happenings.

It was already evening by the time we reached our new suite (oh, I loved having a rich boyfriend), and the last thing I remembered before dozing off on the bed still fully clothed was Toni slipping off my cardigan and kissing me gently on the head, whispering, “Night, baby.”

The next time I woke up, the room was completely dark and Toni was nowhere to be seen. The sheets next to me were undisturbed. Checking the clock on the table, I saw that it was already past midnight.

I checked the bathroom for Toni, but he wasn’t inside, so I returned and sat on the bed, worried about his whereabouts. Suddenly, a slight rustling noise from under my butt disrupted my thoughts – I found a little piece of paper on which was written, in Toni’s handwriting, “Meet me at the road to the beach tonight at 1.”

I smiled, recalling the last time he said that to me, and what we ended up doing after that. I got up, found my long beach shawl and changed into it for memories’ sake, and made my way down to the beach.

Toni was already there, pacing around nervously, sending a spark of déjà vu running through me. He ran up to me excitedly as he caught sight of me, and grabbed my hand tightly. “You saw my note,” he grinned.

“What are you up to?” I asked, suspicious.

He gave my hand a few excited squeezes and stayed quiet as he led me down to the beach. It was an unusually dark summer night, and the dark sand on the beach made it seem like we were walking on air – until we neared the middle of the beach and I saw something flickering in the darkness.

It was a whole bunch of candles arranged nearly to form an enormous heart shape, right in the middle of the beach, unreached by the rising tide. It was large enough for us both to step into, which was what Toni made me do. In fact, it looked like it was large enough for more than twenty people to step into.

“You made this?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. It was a marvellous sight, those candles glittering in the night, the flames dancing to their own individual beats, the beach isolated except for the both of us.

He nodded, the flames jumping in his deep grey eyes, and pushed me gently towards a candle marked with a piece of paper. “Look closer,” he told me.

It was then that I realised that all the candles had pieces of paper strung to their glass containers. Curiously, I approached the one Toni had pointed to and read what was written on it.

_I love your wonderful, crystal clear blue eyes, which light up so beautifully when I tell you I love you._

I glanced back at Toni, my mouth open, and he nodded encouragingly, urging me to move to my left to read the next card.

_I love your smooth hair and how you let me run my fingers through it; it smells like flowers as beautiful as you._

And those cards went on and on, seemingly never-ending as I kept on moving to my left, one note at a time. There must have been about a hundred candles making up that heart, but on every single one, Toni had written a message; a thing he loved about me.

 _I love how gentle your fingers are when they slip in between mine_.  _I love waking up to your peaceful sleeping face. I love when you fall asleep in my arms. I love your soft, ladylike snore. I love how you treat Julius and Lennox like your own children. I love how you give me everything I need. I love how you spent all your time looking after me when I needed you. I love how you were willing to sacrifice yourself to save me. I love how you always try your best. I love how you came back to me. I love your cute little ass. I love how you’re always so confused. I love the feeling of your lips against mine and your hands in my hair. I love how you brought those cookies over to my doorstep on that day seven years ago. I love how your eyes gleam so mischievously whenever you ask me to kiss you. I love how you light up my entire universe._

They went on, and on, and on, and every time I was convinced that he’d run out of things to write about, there would be something new there. It was so, so romantic, and I just wanted to melt into a puddle of Gabi right there on the sand. But I read each and every one of them, mesmerized and smiling dreamily to myself, aware that Toni was anxiously watching my every move – until I reached the last six.

_I love how you let me love you._

_I love you._

_WILL_

_YOU_

_MARRY_

_ME?_

I whipped my head around to him, and he was kneeling there on the sand on one knee, a ring in his hands. He held it up towards me, an almost pleading look in his eyes. “Gabriele, baby,” he said, his voice trembling slightly. “Will you be my darling wife?”

That was the moment my legs decided to give way. I stepped forward and fell into his lap, pushing him backwards onto his butt and straddling him as I grabbed his face and kissed him hard, catching him completely by surprise.

With the ring still in his hand, he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me back eagerly for a few moments, before he pulled away and took my head gently in his hands. His eyes searched my face worriedly, unsure of what to make of my reaction.

“Is this a yes?” he asked timidly.

I smiled at him, the wonderful, beautiful boy who loved me and whose lap I was sitting on. I remembered the time he promised me he’d marry me, all those years ago in Cologne, and what I’d said my reply would be. So I said those exact words – after more than three years, I finally said those exact words: “Hell yes, Toni, make me your woman.”

And he started squealing. Toni started  _squealing_. He squealed, took my hand, slid the ring on and wrapped his arms around me again, so tightly I could barely breathe. I giggled and hugged him back, taking the opportunity to examine the ring while my hands were behind him.

It was a shiny plain platinum band with a single diamond embedded within it, like it was supposed to be for a man. But it was cut sleekly into a thinner band and it fit me just right – it was simple, modern, elegant, and exactly how I would have liked it.

“I love you so much, Toni,” I whispered into his neck.

“I love you too, baby,” he sighed in satisfaction. “Oh, Gabi, you’ve just made me the happiest man alive.”

“You know, if this is going to go according to plan, we’re supposed to go home and have rough sex against the wall.”

He laughed and nuzzled my ear with his nose. “I’m sure that can be arranged,” he whispered.

“I can’t believe you wrote all these.”

He laughed and pulled away so he could see me. “I wrote more, but I ran out of candles,” he said, leading me to gape at him. He shrugged. “There are many things I love about you, Gabi.”

“You are so romantic,” I whispered.

He grinned. “Only for my wife.”

“Your wife,” I repeated, this time not being able to stop the tears from spilling out of my eyes. “Oh, Toni, that sounds wonderful.”

Toni’s POV

After kissing me one more time, Gabi finally climbed off me and flopped back down on the sand, producing small sand clouds.

I lay back down next to her. “You like this?” I asked her. It was so important to me that she was happy.

She closed her eyes and smiled. “I love it,” she whispered, turning her neck so she was facing me. “Oh, Toni, you have no idea. You made my wish come true.”

“What wish?” I asked. She’d started crying again, oh Gabriele my crybaby, so I reached over and gently wiped her face after checking that there wasn’t any sand on my hands. “Your birthday wish?”

“Yeah,” she rolled over and into my arms, sticking her face in the front of my shirt so I couldn’t see her crying. “I wished that your leg would be fine soon, so that we could come to Perissa for summer. And I wished that I could marry you one day.”

“That’s more than one wish, greedy girl.”

“But it was my birthday,” she whined. “Anyway, they all came true.”

“They did,” I marvelled once again at the connection we had. “We’ve got to thank Felix.”

“Felix?”

“How do you think I got all these candles while being stuck in that amazing suite with you? Felix is here, he got a room by himself.”

“Oh, Felix,” she sobbed. “My brother-in-law.”

I laughed. “Yeah, your brother-in-law.”

“I am the luckiest girl alive,” she whispered.

We lay there in silence, listening as the candles surrounding us started flickering, sizzling, and then going out one by one until they were all gone and we were bathed in darkness, lying under the now starry night sky. I was sure Gabi had fallen asleep like she always did, but she suddenly reached over and caressed my face in the dark.

“Is that your hand?” I whispered. “I really hope that’s your hand and not some strange Greek animal groping me.”

She burst out laughing. “Yes, that’s my hand,” she said, and then I felt her lean on her elbows to kiss me on the lips. “And those are my lips.”

“I love your lips,” I murmured.

“Let’s go back,” she pulled me up. I picked up the box that Felix had given me to put all the candles in, and followed Gabi around the heart of candles as she carefully unhooked all the cards and kept them nicely. I picked up the remains of the candles and their glasses after she was done with each one. I tried to help her with the notes, but she swatted my hand aside, saying, “I want them to be in order.”

Suddenly, she stopped. “This is my favourite,” she said, but I couldn’t read the card, so she read it out to me. “I love when we watch the sunrise together.”

I burst out laughing. “You know you love it too, baby.”

I handed her a small box to keep all the cards. Before we headed back to our suite, I took out the key from the love lock earlier and showed it to Gabi. I’d tied a medium-sized rock to it using a little piece of rope. When she saw it, she grinned, made me put down everything, grabbed my hand excitedly and dragged me to the edge of the beach.

She gazed out at the darkness for a moment before turning to me and smiling. “Throw it with your big muscular arms,” she giggled, reaching over and squeezing my biceps.

So I did, as she watched my every move excitedly. With all the strength I could muster, I flung the key and the rock out to sea with zest, never being so happy to see a key being lost. I looked back towards Gabi, and she was gazing out at the direction where I threw the key, a completely blissful look on her face.

“I love you, baby,” I leaned over and kissed her head.

“I love you, too,” she smiled, and then giggled again. “My husband,” she whispered.

I heaved an internal sigh, one not so much of relief as it was of peacefulness and joy. I had the love of my life by my side, I was going to marry her, and we were standing at the place she first became mine – and then, almost exactly five years later, became mine again; this time to be my wife, to call mine forever and always.


	8. Plus One

Toni’s POV

Gabi couldn’t help but wipe a tear from her eye as she watched Josef and Eva take their vows. She gazed straight ahead, mesmerized by all the comings and goings, all the while her hand resting lazily in mine, like we were used to.

We’d received invites to the wedding, just as we were promised, and in the autumn we attended it; just as the leaves started turning orange and falling off. Given that it was held in a church that had a beautiful park surrounding it, the atmosphere was wonderful.

I looked around at the church pews, which were enough to seat more than a hundred people. About three-quarters of it was occupied by guests.

Gabi finally turned to me after the bride and groom left the room and the guests started heading to the reception. “Nice wedding,” she smiled cheekily.

“Not as nice as ours,” I leaned over and whispered in her ear.

She gasped. “I’m totally going to tell Josef you said that.”

“Remember when he tried to beat me up?” I pinched her cheek softly.

She burst out laughing. “Oh, Toni, my hero.”

“Do you want a big wedding like this?” I asked.

“Not really,” she shrugged. “I mean…I don’t have many friends.”

We’d successfully booked a venue for mid-March next year – an elegant Victorian style old house that had been converted into a nice event location, located nearer the outskirts of the Munich city. We were lucky to find such a nice place that wasn’t in the city area, and at such a nice date which marked the start of spring. But we were taking it slow, and we hadn’t even sent out the invites yet.

“How many guests?” I asked.

She shrugged again. “My side…I think five people?”

“Five people?!”

“Louise, Josef, Eva, Elisa, Bertha…” she said. “That’s all.”

“You know, I thought you wanted some of those as your bridesmaids.”

“That’s Amelie,” she replied. “I only want one.”

I turned towards her, trying to gauge her response to my next question. Cautiously, I asked, “Will you be angry if I invite the whole team?”

“The whole team?!” she gaped at me. Her mouth stayed open for a few seconds before she closed it hastily. “That’s…like…twenty people?”

“Around there,” I told her, but she continued staring at me, not sure what to make of it. “Gabi, it’s okay if you don’t want it. I’ll invite less people.”

“No, no, it’s okay, I just…I’m a little overwhelmed.”

“Are you going to tell me again,” I reached over and smoothened her hair. “That you just realised you’re engaged to a Bayern player?”

She giggled. “Yeah, how did you know?”

“Because that’s what I love about you. You love me for me and not because I play for your favourite team and I’m rich.”

“I know,” she sighed and leaned into my shoulder. “You wrote that in one of the cards.”

“I won’t invite everyone if you don’t want me to,” I said into her hair.

“You can invite everyone,” she chuckled. “It’s fine. I mean…usually weddings are much bigger than 25 people, right?”

“Really, I can?” I asked, and she nodded. “Thanks, baby. I want everyone to know that you’re becoming my wife.”

“Romance runs in your veins, doesn’t it?”

I shook my head. “No, in my arteries, because arteries bring blood from the heart.”

She raised her head, looked me in the eye for a second, and rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe I’m marrying you and getting myself stuck with all these stupid jokes for the rest of my life.”

“Stupid jokes?” I asked, intentionally injecting hurt in my voice. “But you like my stupid jokes.”

“Who says I like your stupid jokes? They’re stupid.”

I pulled away so I could look at her properly. “You don’t like my jokes?” I asked, this time seriously.

She stared at me for a few moments before a wide, genuine, beautiful smile spread across her face. “I love your jokes, baby,” she leaned over to kiss my lips. “And I love you.”

“So romantic, Gabi,” I murmured against her upturned lips.

“You taught me well,” she replied, standing up and dragging me along, out of the room and into the scenic park outside. “Let’s go find Eva and Josef.”

We went outside only to see them happily taking photos with guests, so we joined in. When it was time for them to leave, all the ladies gathered in a bunch behind Eva to catch her bouquet, but Gabi just stood quietly by my side, smiling to herself.

“Aren’t you going to try catching it?” I asked her.

“No,” she looked shocked upon hearing my question. “I’ve already found my man,” she gave my hand a loving squeeze.

Before I could respond, my view of Gabi was suddenly disrupted by a large, sudden dash of pink rose petals and the scent of flowers. When the commotion that was in between us cleared, she was staring at me, her mouth wide open. There was a giant bouquet of flowers in her arms. Eva’s bouquet.

Gabi and I gaped at each other in shock before we vaguely realised the crowd applauding. Then she blushed a deep, beautiful red and smiled shyly. “Awww,” she giggled, running her hands along the roses gently.

I glanced across the crowd at Eva and Josef – he saluted us while she winked at us, signs that they threw the bouquet in our direction on purpose. In response, I grabbed Gabi and gave her a huge, wet kiss on her lips before looking back at them. They gave me a thumbs-up before turning and getting into their car to the dinner venue.

Gabi waved the bouquet in my face proudly. “This means I’m getting hitched soon, right?” she giggled.

“Who are you getting hitched to?” I teased.

“Hmmm,” she leaned on my shoulder as I wrapped my arm around her waist. “Someone tall…okay, not so tall…blonde, beautiful, talented, patient, kind, gorgeous grey eyes, always horny, good with his feet…and his hands…and his tongue…someone I love with my entire heart.”

“Wonderful summary, Gabi.”

“I know,” she grinned. “Do you know who he is?”

“No,” I nuzzled her nose with mine.

She leaned closer until her lips were touching mine, and then they were moving into a kiss; a soft, sweet, lingering kiss. “Do you know who he is now?” she whispered.

“Yes,” I whispered back. “I hope you know he loves you with his entire heart, too.”

She closed her eyes and leaned her head against mine, smiling peacefully. “I do,” she said.

——

I was awoken from my peaceful slumber by Gabi wriggling about restlessly in my arms.

“What is it?” I mumbled sleepily.

She stopped. “Nothing. Did I wake you? Go back to sleep.”

“You okay?” I opened my eyes, turned her around and checked her.

She was a little pale, her lips dry and her face twisted in a painful grimace. “I’m fine,” she whispered.

I reached over and wiped the beads of sweat on her forehead. She was so cold. “Where does it hurt?” I asked.

“I’m okay, baby,” she sat up. “I’ll just…go get a glass of water. Go back to sleep, okay?” She tucked the sheets comfortably around me before getting up and walking out of the room slowly.

After a few minutes, when she didn’t come back, I got up and went downstairs only to find the bathroom door locked. I knocked on it softly. “Baby, you okay?”

“Yeah,” her muffled voice came across. She sounded a bit shaken.

“You sure?”

“Go back to bed, Toni.”

I stood outside the bathroom door, aware that what I was doing was a little perverted but trying to listen in on what she was doing anyway. But it was all silent as she stayed inside for the next fifteen minutes, until I got worried and knocked on the door again. “Baby, is there anything wrong? Let’s go back to bed.”

“You’re still there?” she asked, her voice thick. “I told you to go to bed.”

“I won’t unless you come with me.”

She heaved a huge sigh. “Okay, give me a minute.”

Finally, the door opened and Gabi re-emerged from the bathroom. I handed her the glass of water that I’d poured for her, and she smiled gratefully before downing it all in one shot.

I closed my eyes when my head hit the pillow once again, ready to go back to sleep immediately, but I felt Gabi’s glowing blue eyes piercing into me and I couldn’t help opening my eyes again.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing,” she smiled wearily, reaching out and cupping my cheek with her hand. “Go back to sleep, baby.”

“I can’t sleep when you’re looking at me like that.”

She closed her eyes, turned around and pushed her body back into my embrace. “Sleep now.”

And then all was silent once again, the last thought lingering in my mind before I fell asleep being if Gabi was really okay like she said she was.

——

Gabi wasn’t in bed when I woke up.

I ran to the bathroom downstairs, relieved to hear the shower running – but that relief turned into horror a few moments later when I heard the sound of Gabi throwing up, masked by the running water.

“Gabi,” I called, knocking on the door furiously. “Are you okay? What happened?”

The puking sound stopped, followed by the running water a few moments later. “I’m fine,” she said, her voice hoarse.

“Can you open the door?”

She unlocked the door, and I opened it only to see her sitting on the ground next to the toilet, her messy hair strewn all around her face and her clothes stained.

“Baby,” I rushed beside her and knelt down. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she whispered. “I think…I…maybe I ate something wrong.”

“You sure?”

She nodded, wanting to say something more but not being able to help herself from throwing up. She turned and threw up into the toilet while I held her hair back.

I helped her up and brought her to the couch when she felt a little better. “I guess I’ll call and tell them that we won’t make it to the Christmas party later,” I told her. The team was throwing a party to mark the start of our winter break and the upcoming Christmas holidays.

“No,” she grabbed my hand and pulled me back before I could get my phone. “We can make it.”

“But you’re sick, Gabi.”

“I’m fine. I’ll be fine by tonight.”

She spent the entire afternoon lazing around in bed; I brought her a hot water bottle for her stomach, but she didn’t want it. I thought that she’d fallen asleep, and I wanted to call Basti to tell him that we weren’t going to make the party, but she suddenly got up around four in the afternoon and took a shower.

“You okay, baby?” I asked as she returned to the room.

“Yeah,” she smiled, putting on a beautiful little black dress. “How do I look?”

“You look gorgeous,” I said proudly, because she did.

“Thank you,” she giggled, twirling around for a few more times. Suddenly, she walked over and sat down on the bed beside me. Raising a hand, she caressed my cheek gently. “I love you, Toni.”

“I love you too, Gabriele,” I smiled, vaguely worried. She looked like she had something to tell me. “Is there anything wrong? You know you can talk to me about anything at all.”

She paused for a few moments, her eyes reading my expression with the most achingly loving look in them, before she finally shook her head and stood up. “Go shower, lazy ass.”

She was uncharacteristically quiet as we headed to the party venue, and even as they started serving drinks and all the other WAGs started chatting. Even more surprisingly, she turned away glass after glass of beer.

“What’s wrong?” I asked in a low voice after she rejected the fifth glass.

“Nothing, I…don’t want to trigger whatever I had.”

“You okay?” I asked. “Just tell me if you’re not, and we can go home, okay baby?”

She nodded, gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, and turned back to the table.

Gabi loved eating fish, so when the first dish was served and it was a deliciously pan-seared cod, I expected her to be excited and gobble it all up like she usually did. Alas, she just stared at it in horror, picking up her utensils slowly, seemingly unsure of what to do with the dish.

Suddenly, she threw her utensils down with a loud clang and flung her hands over her mouth. Her horrified stare turned to me for a few moments before she suddenly stood up and ran towards the restrooms.

“Gabi!” I called after her, but my voice was drowned out by the loud chatter. I stood up and ran after her. “Gabi, what’s wrong?”

I stood outside the door to the restroom, which had puking sounds coming out from it again, and knocked softly. “Baby, what happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she insisted.

“Will you open the door? I’ll take you home.”

“Go back to the party,” she said. “I’ll go home myself.”

“No, baby, open the door,” I knocked again.

I heard the sink run for a while before the door opened and Gabi was standing there, looking slightly dishevelled. She smiled at me. “Let’s go back and eat.”

“No, let’s go home,” I grabbed her hand and brought her to take our coats before heading to the car.

“Uh…you…I…don’t you wanna go tell them you’re leaving?” she asked.

I thought that was a good idea, so I gave her a kiss on the head, told her to wait in the car, and went back inside to tell the others that I’d be leaving.

When I came back out, the car was empty, and Gabi was gone.

My first reaction was to grab my phone and call her, but her phone was turned off. I went back inside and looked around, thinking that she might’ve gone back inside to find me, but she was nowhere to be seen. I grabbed Basti and told him about my situation, and he promised that he’d keep a lookout.

I drove home slowly, looking around on the streets on the way home, but I didn’t see Gabi anywhere. She wasn’t at our doorstep or in the house, neither was she at the park. She wasn’t anywhere.

I went inside and sat down on the couch helplessly, not sure what to do. I called Basti, but he hadn’t seen her. I called her multiple times, but she never turned on her phone. She’d been so sick yet mysterious for the entire day, and I didn’t know what to make of that.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Thinking it was Gabi, I charged to the door and pulled it open – only to see Amelie standing on the other side. She appeared shocked to see the look on my face.

“What happened?” she asked. “What’s wrong with Gabi? She came home in tears and went straight to her room. She hasn’t been home in ages!”

“She’s in her room?” I asked. “I’ve been looking everywhere for her!”

“What’s wrong? She’s been crying. I can hear her crying.”

Without another word, I charged across the road, barged through the Meisers’ front door and up the stairs into Gabi’s room. She was curled up in her old bed, hidden under the sheets, facing the window. The window I used to climb in. Her shoulders were trembling slightly.

“Gabi,” I called softly. “Is anything wrong? Why did you run away from me?”

She stayed quiet.

“Did I do anything wrong?” I asked. “Or say anything wrong?”

“No,” she whispered.

“What’s the matter?” I went over and sat down gently. “You know you can talk to me about anything.”

Silently, she grabbed her purse from the bedside table and fished out a long rectangular box. Opening it, she took out a white stick with a little window. She passed me the box, and then the stick.

On the box were some instructions and a legend. One stripe, not pregnant; two stripes, pregnant. I checked the little oval window on the white pee stick.

There were two stripes.


	9. (Un)welcome Guest

Gabi’s POV

There was no response from him. He sat there with the stick and the box without any response. There was complete silence.

Truth was, I ran away because I needed to be alone. Because I had no idea what his reaction would be when I told him that I was pregnant with his child. I needed to think it through and prepare myself for whatever his reaction would be. I needed to ponder over what kind of parents we would be. And I couldn’t do that when he was constantly hovering over my shoulder, asking if I was okay.

It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate his concern – I just needed to think. I didn’t know what else to do. I loved him so much, but I didn’t know if he wanted a kid this soon. We’d never talked about it.

Eventually, after what seemed like eons of silence, he spoke.

“You’re pregnant?” he squeaked.

The tone of his voice – a hint of excitement and joy, much more of fear and worry – made me burst into tears. “Yeah,” was all I managed to choke out.

“Oh, Gabi!” he suddenly reached over and hugged me tightly. “I’m going to be a dad!”

“You want to be a dad?” I sobbed.

He froze. “You don’t want it?” he whispered.

The complete horror in his voice made me cry even harder, so he sat me up and stroked my hair gently. “Shhh, baby, what’s wrong? Don’t you…want this baby?”

“We’re so young,” I sniffed. “ _You’re_  so young. And you have this whole…life ahead of you. Your footballer life. And I…we…we’re going to be such a burden and…oh, Toni. We aren’t even married yet!”

“Oh, baby,” he pulled me into his arms again.

“And then…when my tummy appears, I won’t be able to fit into my dress…and then we…Toni…”

“Gabi, I don’t care if we aren’t married,” he soothed. “I don’t care what other people will think. And you’ll be such a beautiful bride, baby. Even more so with this little one in your tummy. Our baby will be there for our wedding, you see? There aren’t many babies who get to do that.”

“But…” I sobbed. “What if I become old and fat? Will you still love me?”

He burst out laughing, making me sob even harder. “Oh, baby,” he laughed. “Is that what you’re worried about? Is that why you’re scared?”

I nodded.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” he kissed me on the head. “I love you. I love you more than anything or anyone else. I don’t care how you look, baby. You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my life, but that’s not why I love you. You’re so much more than just how you look. I love every single thing about you, baby, not just how you look. I’m sure you won’t get all old and fat, but even if you do, I will always, always love you, Gabi. Please don’t ever, ever forget that.”

He stroked my hair gently again as I sobbed heavily into his shirt. I was so lost and confused, and I didn’t know if we should really keep the baby. I didn’t know if we would live to regret it. But as I wrapped my arms tightly around him, I could almost feel his love and his honesty radiating from him.

That cheesy thought made me giggle out loud, and Toni pulled away to stare at me, confused. “What?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I smiled. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Gabriele,” he sighed and rested his chin on my head. “Don’t run away from me again, okay? I got so worried.”

“Okay,” I whispered.

After a brief period of silence, he said, “We’ll go see a doctor, okay? Then…then we can see if we want it.”

“Do you want it?” I asked softly.

“I do,” he reached over and rested his hand on my tummy gently. “Gabi, we made this. You and me. It’s  _ours_. It’s what  _we_ made. And it will be the most precious thing to me.”

“Thing?” I giggled, removing his hand and patting my tummy. “Daddy’s so rude,” I whispered.

“What else am I supposed to call it?!”

“Do you want a boy or a girl?”

He shrugged. “Either is fine. I just know it’ll be a beautiful, beautiful baby.”

“Just like you,” I smiled and gave him a gentle peck on the nose.

“And you,” he smiled and poked my nose. “We’re such beautiful parents,” he said proudly.

I burst out laughing. “I’ve never heard anyone say that about themselves.”

“Well, we are,” he retorted. “And now you have.”

“I love you so much, baby,” I leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips.

“I love you more, Gabriele,” he smiled. “All of you.”

Toni’s POV

We had an ultrasound scheduled about a week after, on the same day when we were going for our clothes fitting for the wedding.

Gabi looked nervous as she climbed onto the examination table, watching intently as the doctor rubbed some gel on her belly and slid a detector over its surface. We stared at the computer screen, everything just being a blur of black and white which we didn’t understand.

“You see?” Dr. Gerber pointed to a random moving grey blotch on the screen. “That’s it. That’s your baby.”

“Where?” Gabi and I said in unison.

Dr. Gerber laughed. “There,” she pointed again, this time moving to outline the head. “You’re about three weeks along. You can see the heart beating,” she pointed to a pulsing spot.

“Aww,” Gabi purred. “That’s his cute little heart – wait. Is it a boy or a girl? Can you see?”

“Well…” she slid the detector over Gabi’s stomach a few more times, taking different angles. “Uh, no, not just yet, but…”

“But what?” I asked.

She moved the detector and pointed. “There’s something else there. I can’t quite make out what it is.”

“Is it bad?” Gabi whispered.

“Not necessarily. Not if it’s what I think it is. But you should make another appointment and come back in around a week and a half to two weeks. It should be clearer then. Do you want a picture? I can print one for you.”

We left after making another appointment and collecting the screenshot of the ultrasound scan. Gabi sat in silence in the car all the way to the bridal shop, holding the scan in her hands and gazing at it.

She didn’t even notice that we’d been stopped outside the shop for around ten minutes. She just kept staring at the photo until I reached out and tapped her shoulder gently.

“Gabi, let’s go and try on our clothes.”

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” she asked in a small voice.

“He?”

“The baby,” she whispered.

“Of course he’ll be okay, Gabi,” I reached over and pulled her in for a hug. “Don’t worry, okay?”

“But she said there was something there…what if it’s…like a tumour or whatever?”

“Oh, baby,” I kissed the top of her head. “If it’s so serious, don’t you think you’d still be at the hospital now? Going through more scans? Do you think she would have let you go?”

It was silent again as she pondered that question. Finally, she tilted her head upwards and gave me a lopsided smile. “You’re such a smart daddy.”

“Well, if you don’t go into the store with me right now I’m going to be angry daddy.”

“Okay, grumpy daddy,” she giggled, opening the door and getting out of the car.

It took me almost no time at all to find an appropriate black tux with a dark grey tie which Gabi said matched my eyes – but it took a much, much longer time for Gabi to find her dress.

“How’s this?” she twirled around, this time in a sleek, silky yellowish-white dress that ran all the way down to her feet with a long train. It clung deliciously to all her curves.

“You look beautiful, baby,” I said for the thousandth time. “You look gorgeous in anything.”

“I like this one,” she said. “Can it be altered?” she asked the shop assistant, and I was momentarily confused until I remembered that she was going to have a pregnant belly for our wedding.

“I think it fits you just right,” the shop assistant said. “How much smaller do you want it to be?”

“Uh…no,” Gabi glanced at me. “I want it bigger. I…um, I’m going to be about four months pregnant at the wedding.”

“Oh, sorry,” the assistant blushed slightly. “Why don’t you take it off and I’ll check for you?”

While Gabi was changing out, I approached the helpful assistant. “Um, miss,” I said. “Do you have other dresses that might be able to fit a pregnant lady? I mean, like those that can stretch out and stuff. You know, in case that one doesn’t work out. It looks pretty…tight.”

She grinned. “Yeah, I get what you mean,” she walked over to a rack of lace dresses. “Lace might work better on her. Sometimes they’re put over material that can stretch or cling to curves, whichever that suits the bride. Or you might want to check out those that flare out at the waist. There’s this section over here that contains dresses for plus-size brides or pregnant brides, too. You can look through them, or if you want to custom make one for her, I can help you with that too.”

Not long after, she disappeared to check on the dress while Gabi came over to my side. She joined me in ruffling through the racks of dresses.

“You like that silk one?” I asked her.

“Yeah,” she smiled. “It’s gorgeous.”

“What about lace?” I asked. I held out a strapless lace dress with an organza mermaid tail which I knew she’d look stunning in. “Do you want to try this?”

“Lace?” she furrowed her brows in thought. “Will it look good on me?”

“Baby, you look good in anything,” I handed the dress to her. “Or nothing. Nothing at all. That’s good too.”

She rolled her eyes at me playfully before turning and going back into the dressing room to try the lace dress on. She emerged looking like a queen, with the fishtail of the dress flaring out starting from her mid-thigh, in stark contrast to the tight-fitting top, exposing her shoulders and neck. She twirled around, causing the tail to lift off the ground and fly in circles together with her.

“How do I look?” she asked.

“Gabi, it’s beautiful,” I whispered. She was gorgeous.

“It stretches out,” she giggled, pulling out the sides of the dress.

I turned her around so she was facing the mirror. “Do you like it?” I asked.

“I love it,” she turned and smiled at me. “Fashionable daddy.”

I only had time to give her a quick peck on the lips before the shop assistant returned with the silk dress. “I’m sorry, sir, ma’am. I checked with our other stores and this is the biggest size currently available for this dress. It can’t be altered enough to fit a four-month belly, I’m afraid.”

“It’s alright,” I smiled at her. “I think we found the right one.”

She took a step back and checked Gabi out from top to toe, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, I think this one is great,” she said, before she blushed again. “I mean, that’s just my opinion.”

“Don’t be so shy,” Gabi laughed, smacking her gently on the shoulder. “I think it’s nice, too. Can we get this one?” she directed that question at me.

“Of course, baby.”

“If it doesn’t fit when the day comes…can it be altered?”

“Did you find this in the pregnant brides section?” the assistant asked, and we nodded. “Yeah, those can be altered.”

“If not, we can custom make one for you,” I told Gabi.

She gaped at me in horror. “No! That’s going to cost millions!”

“Millions that I’m willing to spend on you,” I told her. We stood in front of the mirror, me in my plain old clothes and her in her beautiful mermaid dress; I looked so out of place beside her, but then again, who wouldn’t? Gabi was the most beautiful girl on the planet. Anyone would look out of place beside her, let alone when she was in this marvellous dress.

She gave my hand a gentle squeeze as she smiled at our reflections, a hint of tears brimming in her eyes. “Thank you, Toni.”

“For what, baby?”

“For making me your bride.”

I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you for being my beautiful bride.”

Gabi’s POV

We’d already started taking our wedding photos before the pregnancy shock, but we decided to continue hiring the photographer to take shots of us as the pregnancy progressed, documenting the weekly growth of my bump all the way until the wedding and after that until the baby was born.

Toni had left for Dubai for mid-season training, so we had to skip one session of our weekly photoshoots. The week without him had been terribly lonely, but I spent the time with Amelie and my family.

He was finally back in mid-January, just a while before our second ultrasound. He hopped into bed behind me and wrapped his arms around me so he was caressing my belly. It had already grown a lot more over the past few weeks. It was hard to believe that there was actually another human growing inside of me.

“Night, Gabi,” he whispered. “Night, baby. Daddy and mummy are going to see you in a few days, okay?”

“He says okay, see you soon,” I giggled. I reached over to the bedside drawer and took out the ultrasound picture from the previous time. “I hope you’ll be okay, darling.”

“He will,” Toni mumbled, halfway to dreamland. “Sleep, baby. I love you.”

I lay there as I heard Toni started snoring gently, conversing telepathically with the unborn baby in my womb, talking to him (or her), telling him how much we loved him and how much we longed to see him. I told him to be strong, and to be a happy, healthy baby. I told him mummy was sorry, I was sorry that I didn’t want him at first. I told him that he was all I wanted now. I told him that daddy and mummy loved him lots; we loved him because we made him, and he was a representation of our love, and we would always, always love him and long for him.

Toni’s POV

Gabi was sleeping on her back when I awoke. Her mouth was wide open and she was snoring more loudly than usual. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself as I saw how innocently unglamorous she looked. Reaching over, I pushed her mouth shut.

I felt like a creep sitting there and watching her, but then I realised, that beautiful girl was pregnant with  _my_  child. We were going to be married soon. I didn’t have to care about being a creep around her.

So I sat there and watched, taking her hand gently and stroking it with my thumb. Her other hand rested instinctively on her bump, cupping it with her fingers. I distractedly wondered why it was so large just after over a month, but I pushed that thought to the back of my head.

I reached over and placed my hand on her belly. Daddy loves you, baby. How are you doing in there?

Just then, Gabi stirred, moving her hand and placing it on top of mine. She opened her eyes slightly, glanced at me and closed them again, drifting back to sleep.

“Gabriele, baby,” I called softly. “Let’s go have brunch at your favourite restaurant.”

“Noooo,” she whined, her eyes still closed.

“Aren’t you hungry?” I asked. I stroked her belly gently, using a high pitched voice to mimic a child. “Mummy, I’m hungry.”

Gabi whined again, this time incoherently.

“Don’t you want to feed our hungry baby, Gabi?”

She finally opened her eyes to look at me. “I do,” she said, sitting up and getting off the bed enthusiastically. I hurried to catch up with her as she half-jogged out of the room, clutching at her bump for dear life.

I had a slight glance at her back as she left – and I saw a few red spots on the white backside of her shorts. Immediately, my gaze went back to her side of the bed, my heart pounding in fear and anticipation of what I expected to see there.

Indeed, there was more on our sheets right where Gabi’s lower body had been. There was an entire splotch of blood. Gabi’s blood.


	10. Double the Joy

Toni’s POV

“Gabi!” I yelled, trying to keep the fear out of my voice. “Gabi, don’t run!”

“What?” her voice came from downstairs. I dashed out of the room and down the stairs, where she was waiting for me. “I’m fine! Stop being so paranoid.”

I turned her around to check the back of her shorts again. “You’re bleeding.”

“What?!” she tried in vain to turn around and look at her butt. “Bleeding? What does that mean?”

“Does it hurt?” I asked. “Does anything hurt?”

“No,” tears started brimming in her eyes. “What are we supposed to do?”

“Come on,” I helped her out to the car. “I’ll take you to the hospital.”

I put a towel on the passenger seat before she sat down, her hands starting to tremble uncontrollably. I hurried to the driver’s seat and started the engine. Gabi sat in silence throughout the entire ride, staring straight ahead and breathing shallow breaths, as if she was starting to hyperventilate.

“Baby, you okay?” I asked, worried.

“I’m scared,” she whispered.

“Oh, Gabi,” I reached over and grabbed one of her hands. She was shaking, but at the same time, her body was so hot, it was radiating heat over to my side. “Don’t worry. It’ll all be fine, okay? Trust me.”

“What if we can’t keep it?” she asked, her voice this time barely a whisper.

“Then we’ll try again,” I planted a kiss on her head as we slid smoothly into an empty parking lot. “Again and again. All I want is for you to be safe, okay?”

“Is it my fault?” she mumbled. “What if there’s something wrong with me?”

“Baby, there’s nothing wrong with you. Come on, let’s go inside, okay?”

I handed her a jacket with which to cover her stained pants, and we walked into the emergency room together slowly. We were lucky to receive attention after just a short wait.

Gabi sat as still as she could, her beautiful blue eyes still gazing straight ahead as the nurses bustled around her, taking her blood pressure, temperature, and blood samples. I sat there on the little chair beside her and held her hand, although she was too distraught to even look at me.

After eons of silence, she finally said something. “Do you think it’s that…thing? The thing Dr. Gerber mentioned?”

“I don’t know, Gabi. Let’s just wait and see, okay?”

She closed her eyes as tears started streaming out of them. “I’m so sorry, Toni.”

“No, baby,” I reached over and pulled her face close to my chest. “Don’t be sorry. Please don’t be sorry. Everything will be fine, Gabi. I love you so much.”

Just then, a dishevelled Dr. Gerber rushed into the room with a set of papers in her hand. “Yes, yes, hello,” she panted as she sat down on another chair and dragged an ultrasound machine closer to us. “How are you doing?”

Gabi was still crying silently into my shoulder, so I answered. “Is there anything wrong with the baby?”

“The blood tests show that her hormone levels are higher than normal, as is her temperature. Let’s take a look and see if it’s what we think it is,” she said as she spread the gel over Gabi’s belly and placed the device on it.

It was all silent as she moved the detector around and caught sight of the fetus, although all of it was still a big blur to me and Gabi.

“Is everything okay?” I asked when the silence had dragged on for a long time.

“Everything’s fine,” Dr. Gerber grinned. I thought that expression was strange, given the current situation. “Remember the ‘thing’ I told you guys about the last time?”

“Yeah,” Gabi had lifted her head from my shoulder and was sitting upright, her tears dried and staring apprehensively at Dr. Gerber. “Is it that thing?”

“As a matter of fact, it is,” Dr. Gerber chuckled. “You were spotting, which is very common when there is implantation of more than one fetus. Turns out, just as I’d expected, the ‘thing’ was another baby. Congratulations! You’re having twins.”

“Twins?” Gabi gaped at her, and then turned to do the same to me, with a look of awe, apprehension and dismay all rolled into one. Her grip on my hand tightened. “Two? We’re having two?”

“Really? So nothing’s wrong?” I peered at the screen as Dr. Gerber nodded and pointed out the two beating hearts and the two slightly misshapen heads. And then, I suddenly understood why her belly had grown so quickly. “Oh, my God, Gabi!”

“Oh, no,” Gabi suddenly burst into tears again. “We’re having twins.”

“What’s wrong?” I scooted over close to her and wiped her tears. “Don’t cry, baby.”

“There are two,” she sobbed. “Now I’m going to be twice as fat.”

“Oh, Gabi,” I cooed, relieved that it was just that and not anything else. I heard Dr. Gerber laughing from her position. “That just means there’s twice of you for me to love.”

“Toni!” she smacked me on the shoulder, tears still streaming steadily down her face. “Now’s not the time to flirt with me.”

“ _Always_  is the time for me to flirt with you, baby.”

“Well, if you’re done being all lovey dovey over there,” Dr. Gerber teased. “All the signs look good. Good heart rate, good weight, and normal growth for such an early stage. I’ll print a picture for you. And if it’s okay, I’d like to talk to you in private?” she directed that question at me. I nodded at her and followed her outside, but not before giving Gabi another kiss on her head and wiping the remainder of her tears.

“Is anything wrong?” I asked her, worried about why she couldn’t talk to me in Gabi’s presence.

“No, everything is perfect,” she smiled. “I just wanted to talk to you about your wife. She seems very…worried.”

I laughed, relieved and not even bothering to correct her. “Yeah, she is.”

“Her temperature was high, but she was cold even before I put on the gel, and she was shaking. You two are really young. This is your first child, right? Okay, your first two?”

“Yeah, they are.”

“Maybe it’s too early a stage to be saying this, and I probably don’t have the right of diagnosis or advice, but please take care of her. She looks like she might turn out to be high-risk for post-natal depression. And the way she reacted just now when she knew there were twins…she seems very unsure. So please, I don’t mean to offend you with this, but I hope you two will be okay. Anyone can tell how much you two love each other. Please take care of her, and please think this through.”

I looked into the room at Gabi through the small glass window in the door, realising what she said was true. “Yeah, I will,” I told her as I watched Gabi clean herself up and pull her shirt back down, still caressing her bump lovingly. “Thank you very much.”

Gabi’s POV

Dr. Gerber returned to the room without Toni and handed me the shot of our twins.

“Thank you,” I told her as I checked out the photo.

“You’re very welcome,” she smiled. “Can I have a little chat with you? As more of a friend than a doctor.”

I nodded warily.

“Are you worried about your future with your kids?”

“Yeah,” I said, avoiding her intense gaze, but not being able to stop myself from rambling on. “I mean, look at me. He’s so wonderful, so talented…but me? I don’t see what he sees in me. I never have. And we’re so young…I can’t help but be scared. And I’m worried…because I don’t know how I’ll turn out to be after this pregnancy. What if I become really fat? And what if…he gets disgusted…and…you know…”

“Well, Mrs. Kroos,” she started. “You are a beautiful woman, and your husband loves you very much. I can tell, basically  _anybody_  can tell. He can’t take his eyes off you. And the look in them…well, let’s just say that every girl wants a boy who looks at them like that,” she chuckled. “I don’t think your age or inexperience will be a problem, seeing how much you two love each other. As parents, you have to work  _together_ , and things will work out just fine. And regarding your image…it’s not a sure thing that women will gain weight after their pregnancies. With proper exercise you can still go back to normal weight, especially since you’re still so young. It just takes a little time. I mean, I had three kids, and that took a lot, to be honest.”

I gaped at her. I didn’t bother correcting her because well, to be honest, ‘Mrs. Kroos’ sounded pretty damn good to me. But on the topic, I could tell she was slender and had a good figure, even under her white coat. “You have  _three kids_? How? You’re so slim!”

She burst out laughing. “I told you, exercise. Not all mothers are fat, right? Just look at Victoria Beckham.”

“Oh,” I whispered. “Yeah.”

“I’m sure your figure won’t matter to your husband. So don’t worry too much, okay? And stay happy. Your mood affects your babies, too. I’m sure you want happy babies, right?”

“Happy babies,” I repeated. “Yeah, I want happy babies.”

“Then be a happy mummy,” she smiled and patted my shoulder reassuringly. “Come on, your husband is waiting outside. I’m sure he misses you very much.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her last comment. I thanked her before leaving the room, catching sight of Toni waiting patiently outside. His entire face lit up when he saw me, and he stretched out his hand to grab mine. “Hello, beautiful,” he said.

“Hello,” I smiled, touched by his warm reception.

“How are you feeling?” he asked kindly.

That one line broke me. Just those four words. I clung on to him desperately as tears started falling out of my eyes yet again. “Oh, Toni, I was so scared.”

“Shhh,” his hand moved up and down my back gently. “Everything’s fine now, see? And we’re gonna have two! Two bundles of pure joy.”

I rubbed my belly proudly. “Yeah, two bundles,” I smiled.

He gave my hand a loving squeeze before we left for the parking lot. And then, as if all the day’s troubles had just taken its toll on me, I realised – are we going to be ready for this? What kind of parents are we going to be? We aren’t even married yet. How do we know how ready we are?

I sat next to Toni in the car in silence all the way home. Thankfully, he didn’t try to interrupt my thoughts. It was only until he’d walked with me to our room that he spoke. “Everything okay? You’ve been so quiet.”

I turned my gaze to him, at the pure concern taking over his face, his forehead wrinkled and his eyebrows furrowed. I reached over, grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him close for a kiss.

His frustration had dissipated slightly when I pulled away, so I felt a pang of guilt when I said, “Can I be alone for a while?”

I could almost feel his heart fall to the ground, but he put on a brave face and smoothened my hair gently. “Okay, baby,” he said before retreating out of the room and closing the door softly.

Taking out the screenshot of the twins, I lay down on Toni’s side of the bed, propped up my feet and gazed at it. I could hardly make out the two heads, but they were definitely there.

Twins. Who would have thought? I never saw myself getting pregnant so early, much less with twins. I ran my thumb over the photo. Were we really ready? I’d read all those horrible articles about unplanned pregnancies and marriages falling apart because they had kids too soon. We’d never even  _talked_  about having a kid, Toni and I. And now we were going to have  _two_.

It was a mystery how Toni was so calm about everything. All he’d been doing since we found out I was pregnant was sit around with me whenever he could, call me from training or from Dubai during his training camp, bring me water and snacks, hold my hair back during my daily throw-up sessions, and give me extra pillows to prop my feet up. He’d never once complained, over the past month and a half of my pregnancy, about how whiny I was or how lazy I’d become.

And then I recalled the few times I caught him reading through articles about young parents, when he didn’t minimize the window quickly enough. When I caught him secretly smiling to himself when we walked past babies in prams on the street with their parents. And, most frequently, when he’d awoken in the middle of the night just to pat and stroke my belly gently and hum softly to the babies while I pretended to be asleep because I knew he wouldn’t do that in front of me.

I realised that he wasn’t ready, either – but that didn’t mean that we  _both_  weren’t ready. Because even though we might feel unprepared individually, as long as we had each other, we could face this together, like Dr. Gerber said. After all, we were the parents of these babies. And they were our flesh and blood. And we would love them with all our hearts, and we would give them everything they needed.

Toni was being so strong for me, and here I was, doubting us and our ability to be parents. I felt so guilty. I knew, right then I knew, that we were going to be great parents, as long as we had each other. Because I loved him, and there was no other person I’d rather walk this journey with.

After mentally chiding myself for being so silly and naïve, and so vain about my appearance, I opened the door and went to find my dearest Toni; my husband-to-be, the father of my children, and the love of my life.

Toni’s POV

I sat on the couch fiddling with my thumbs nervously as Gabi had her alone time in the room. I knew she was worried – I, too, was worried, but I knew everything would be fine as long as we had one another. I hoped that she knew the same.

After a while, I turned towards the stairs only to see Gabi standing there on the second flight, gazing at me lovingly. And then, just like how it always worked, I knew everything was okay just by looking into her beautiful, glowing, crystalline blue eyes.

She smiled at me when our eyes met, and stretched out an arm to beckon me towards her. I got up and ran up the stairs two steps at a time, landing in front of her within seconds. She lifted both hands to hold my face gently, her gaze never breaking from mine.

“I don’t want to be alone anymore,” she whispered.

“You never have to be alone,” I whispered back.

“I love you so much, Toni.”

“I love you too, Gabi,” I put my palm on her belly. “You’re going to be a fantastic mum, you know?”

She gazed at me happily as if that was exactly what she needed to hear. And then a beautiful smile lit up her face. “And you’re going to be an amazing dad.”

“Are you tired? Do you want to go to bed? Why don’t you rest in the guestroom while I change the sheets?”

She burst out laughing. “One question at a time, Toni.”

“Sorry, I’m nervous daddy today.”

“Can you lie with me?”

“Of course, baby,” I led her down the stairs and into the guestroom we’d slept in during my injury. We climbed into bed together, facing the ceiling as she leaned on my chest.

“Can you sing to me like you do to my belly?” she suddenly asked.

I froze. I wasn’t aware that she knew I woke up to hum, and sometimes sing, to the unborn baby – or babies now. “How did you know I do that?” I squeaked.

She giggled. “I know everything.”

“Gabi!” I felt my face turn pink. “This is so embarrassing.”

She shook the entire bed with her laughter. “I love your singing, baby. There’s nothing to be shy about. Plus, you’re going to see me get old and fat, and you don’t see me getting cranky about that.”

“You’re not going to be old and fat,” I retorted. “Fine, I’ll sing to you.”

She gave me a kiss on the cheek before closing her eyes and smiling blissfully. I stared at her, mesmerised by her like I always was and I always would be, until she opened her eyes again and glared at me. “Sing now,” she said bossily.

“Okay, okay,” I pushed her eyes shut and cradled her head like it was a baby while I sang an old German lullaby, repeating it over and over until she fell asleep with a smile on her face, not getting bored of it – just like how I wouldn’t get bored of anything at all as long as my Gabriele was around, because she brought so much colour to my life, even the colours I never thought I’d see.


	11. Disaster Averted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song accompanying this chapter is She's So Mean by Matchbox Twenty.

Toni’s POV

Gabi yelled out in frustration as the shop assistant tried in vain to zip up her dress. “Why doesn’t it fit?” she whined. “Please make it fit!”

“I – I’m so sorry, ma’am,” the assistant stuttered. “Uh, why don’t you take it off now?”

It was just a little less than two weeks before our wedding day, and we were there for the third and final dress fitting and to choose Gabi’s shoes. We only had three fittings because we weren’t sure how big Gabi was going to grow, and we decided to not waste the time and have the dress altered at one go. Hormones were getting the better of Gabi and she was always either tired, frustrated or angry. I smiled apologetically at the helpful assistant as she scurried away with the dress.

Gabi sat down beside me in her robe. “I can’t fit into my dress,” she said in dismay.

“You’ll fit into your dress, baby. They’ll make it bigger for you.”

“How big?” she pouted like a child and pointed at her huge belly. “There are two in here. I’m four months, but I look like eight!”

I laughed and wrapped her into a huge warm hug. “Baby, it’ll all be fine.”

“Will it?” she sighed.

I thought all about it – the invites had been sent, the venue booked a long time ago, the judge scheduled, flowers ordered, food menus arranged, decorations set up. Everything was as planned. Except Gabi’s dress, of course.

“Gabi, baby,” I said softly. “If you feel like you’re not ready, then it’s okay. We don’t have to do this. We can get married after the babies are born.”

“But we’ve already paid for everything.”

“I don’t care. As long as you feel comfortable.”

She sighed again and went quiet for a long while. Finally, she turned and looked at me. “It’s just a dress, right? No need to cancel the entire wedding just because of a dress.”

I smiled. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I’ll just go naked,” she giggled. Oh, her mood swings.

“Gabi!”

“Okay, okay,” she leaned her head on my shoulder. “No need to cancel. I want to be Mrs. Kroos.”

Just then, the shop assistant reappeared, this time with another dress that looked identical to the one Gabi had worn. She turned them around, and the only difference between the two was that the second had a nice corset back while the original was just a simple zipper.

“Um, we kinda made this for you to try,” the assistant started. “All the measurements are the same except for the back. The corset back can be adjusted, so you probably will be able to fit into it. It wasn’t ready the previous time you came, and you only have three fittings, so I’m sorry that I brought it out so late.”

“No, please, it’s okay,” I smiled. She was so nervous all the time. “It looks nice, Gabi. Why don’t you try it?”

She examined the dress warily before bringing it into the changing room. I gave the assistant another apologetic smile as she followed Gabi to help her, mouthing the words, “sorry, hormones,” at her. She smiled shyly back at me.

Gabi emerged looking like a queen again. Her belly was nicely accentuated by the clingy, but not suffocating dress, and the fishtail ended nicely at the front of her feet and left a trail of about three feet at the back. The corset back ended at the small of her back, and was nicely tied up to reveal a little v-shaped sliver of Gabi’s bare back.

“Do I look fat?” Gabi asked, standing sideways and looking into the mirror.

I wanted to laugh, because she didn’t look  _fat_ , she looked  _pregnant_. But I didn’t, because then she’d yell at me. So I went over and put my hands on her shoulders. “You look great, baby.”

The assistant, now looking much more relieved, brought over three pairs of shoes. One was a pair of heels and the other two were flats. “Would you like to try these on?” she asked Gabi.

Gabi immediately went for one of the flats, which was a beautiful silver glittery pair of pumps with a thin strap across the ankle, like a pair of ballet shoes. She sat down to try them on only to find that she couldn’t reach her feet. She turned and looked at me again with that look of dismay in her eyes. “I can’t reach my feet.”

I let out a small laugh as I knelt down beside her, slipped the shoes on and buckled them up. Then I helped her up and brought her back in front of the mirror, where she finally smiled at her reflection.

“You like this pair?” I asked, and she nodded. “Okay, then we’ll take this pair.”

She stood there silently for a few more moments, staring at herself. I could see her eyes traveling up and down her own reflection disapprovingly. “We’re really gonna do this?” she whispered. “You’re going to marry this. Me. A pregnant bride.”

“ _My_  pregnant bride, baby.”

She caressed her belly lovingly. “Don’t you want a slim, beautiful bride?”

“Gabi, I’ve wanted to marry you since four years ago in Cologne. Nothing will ever stop me from making you my wife. Not even this belly. Not even if you’re old and grey and wrinkled. Nothing at all, Gabriele. Nothing.”

She turned away from the mirror and looked straight at me, tears brimming in her stunning blue eyes. She didn’t say a single word.

“It’s okay if you’re not ready, baby. Just tell me. You need to tell me, or I won’t know if this is what you want. I just want you to be happy, Gabi. And if marrying me now isn’t going to make you happy, then I’d rather call off this wedding. Your happiness is the most important thing in my entire life, baby. I love you. It doesn’t matter that I’m marrying a pregnant bride, because it’s  _you_.”

She reached over her protruding belly and hugged me as tightly as she could. “I love you so much, Toni. I can’t wait to be your wife. I can’t. But it’s just…every girl has her dream…of being beautiful at her wedding. Every girl dreams of her wedding day being the day that she is the most beautiful in her entire life. But I…I don’t feel beautiful. I feel so bloated, and irritable, and…I don’t know. I want this, but at the same time, I don’t know. I’m so sorry.”

“Baby,” I turned her around to face the mirror, so I was standing behind her. Reaching over her shoulders, I wiped her tears with my fingers. “Look at you. You’re going to be a mother. That’s the most beautiful, most wonderful thing a woman can do. To hold another life in her and to give birth. And you have  _two_. You are beautiful, Gabriele. You’re going to be a beautiful mother, and you’re going to be a beautiful bride. It doesn’t matter to me whether you’re a slim bride or not, Gabi. But…it’s all up to you. I’m leaving it all to you. If you just say no, we’ll call off the entire thing.”

Her eyes met mine in the mirror, gazing into them for the longest time, as if she could see her entire future and her entire life in them. We just stood there, looking into each other’s eyes through the mirror, until she finally smiled. “Our babies are going to be so smooth, like their daddy.”

I laughed. “So, are you still willing to be my gorgeous bride?”

“Yes,” she reached over and grabbed my hand, which had been resting on her hip. “Always, Toni.”

“I love you, Gabriele.”

“I love you too, baby. I’m sorry. It’s just…all the hormones. I’m sorry I keep doubting everything.”

“Don’t be sorry, baby. I’ll always be here for you. And if you want, we can always have another ceremony after you’ve given birth. Maybe next year.”

“Really? We can?”

“Of course. Anything for you.”

“Honestly, though, do I look good in this dress?”

“You do. You look beautiful.”

“Even with the bump?”

“ _Especially_  with the bump.”

She grinned; an all-star, pants-dropping grin. “Awesome!” she exclaimed, like she was a teenage boy, before she lifted her skirt and scuttled towards the dressing room to change out, leading the assistant (whom I was sure had been eavesdropping) to hurry after her, worried that she’d trip over her dress.

I was overjoyed to see her finally smile, and I was even happier to see that she was still smiling when she re-emerged in her own clothes. She sat down beside me and rather unglamorously lifted a leg and placed her foot on my lap, urging me to help her take off her new shoes.

I shook my head at her helplessly as she giggled and the assistant laughed shyly at the back. As I was taking off Gabi’s shoes and putting them nicely in the box, she came over with a clothing bag.

“Here’s your dress,” she said to the both of us. “I hope your wedding goes great.”

“Thank you,” Gabi beamed at her.

“No problem,” she smiled back before glancing at me shyly. “Uh…you’re a…Bayern player, right?”

“Yeah, I am,” I replied.

“Um…my brother…he’s a big fan,” she stuttered, suddenly producing a photograph of me in action. “Can you…sign this for him?”

Gabi burst out laughing, leading us both to turn and stare at her.

“What?” she giggled.

“Why are you laughing?”

“I’m getting married to a Bayern player.”

“And that’s funny?”

“Yes! I mean, look at her!” she gestured to the poor, helpless and embarrassed assistant. “She’s so shy to talk to you!”

“Gabi! Don’t be so mean!”

“Oh, baby,” she leaned back on the chair, exhausted. “I’m going to be famous.”

I rolled my eyes at her playfully as I put my signature on the photograph and handed it back to the assistant. After making sure everything was okay, I grabbed our clothes and she grabbed our shoes, and we headed out to the car.

The assistant stood at the sidewalk watching us with a relieved smile on her face – one of someone who’d just accomplished a huge mission – as we got into the car. Gabi and I gave her a friendly wave, and she gladly waved back as we drove off.

Gabi proudly took her dress and her shoes over to her family’s place across the road and kept them there, away from my reach and sight. “No touching my things,” she wagged her finger at me.

I laughed. Because of the unborn twins, we’d had to skip all the fun of the bachelor’s and bachelorette’s party. But I didn’t mind at all, as long as the wedding could go through. The only “tradition” we were going to follow was staying apart from each other the day and night before the wedding. Although that, too, was a little skewed, given that Gabi was just going to stay across the road from me.

Gabi was in a great mood for the rest of the day, and I was glad; as long as she was happy, that would make our babies happy, and all of that would make me happy, too. I could barely wait to make her my wife, to slip the ring on her finger again, and for her to slip it on mine. My beautiful, wonderful wife, Gabriele.

Gabi’s POV

I stared up at the ceiling I’d stared at every night for the first two decades of my life, the ceiling in my bedroom in my family’s house. It was the night before the wedding. Everything passed in a blur, and suddenly, I was getting married. A month before I turned 24.

I sighed and turned on my side, gently rubbing my belly and communicating telepathically with the two darlings inside.

Suddenly, my phone started buzzing. Without checking the number, I put it to my ear.

“Hello, gorgeous,” Toni’s voice came through.

“Toni!” I exclaimed. “You’re not supposed to call.”

“Really?” he sounded a little disappointed. “I thought I was only not allowed to see you.”

“Okay, yeah, actually it’s just that.”

“Just to let you know, I’m sitting at my window. So, you know…we won’t accidentally see each other.”

I got up and waddled to my window. Indeed, he was sitting there, his silhouette prominent against the light of his room. Our room.

“Oh, whoops,” I giggled over the phone.

“Hey!” he screeched as I waved. “I thought we weren’t supposed to see each other.”

“I can’t see you,” I said. “Can you see me? I think you can’t.”

He laughed. “Yeah…I can’t see you, Gabi. Where are you?”

It was so silly, acting like children, sitting there on the phone with him when he was just opposite, but it was nice. I was overcome by a bout of nostalgia, thinking of all the times we’d sat there and done exactly that. All the fun I had with Toni. Being with him was the most fun I could ever have. And I was going to spend my entire life with him.

“I miss you, baby,” I told him.

“I miss you too, cheesy girl,” he laughed again.

“I can’t wait to be your wife.”

“I can’t wait to see you in your beautiful sexy dress.”

“Sexy?” I burst out laughing. “Did you just call me sexy?”

“No, I called your dress sexy.”

“Well,  _I’m_ wearing it, so that makes  _me_  sexy.”

“Gabi, you’re sexier  _without_  it.”

I rolled my eyes, just as I heard Felix’s voice in the background going, “Get a room!”

“Hi, Felix,” I said.

“Felix, she says hi,” Toni said away from the phone. “He says hi, sister.”

I laughed again. Toni had been so patient, trying so hard to make me smile and to make me laugh. Even though I felt so hot and bothered most of the time, he really helped just by being by my side. And all I did was grumble and complain to him. But I guessed it was mostly the stress from the preparations, because after everything was finally settled with my dress, I’d felt a lot more relaxed.

“Sorry, Toni,” I sighed. “I’ve been so cranky.”

“No, baby, it’s okay,” he said. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Thank you for not leaving me while I’m at my worst.”

“I love you even at your worst, Gabriele.”

“Sleep early, okay?” I smiled to myself. “I don’t want to get married to a panda.”

“Me neither, so you sleep early too.”

“Our babies say ‘good night, daddy.’”

He chuckled. “Good night, babies. Good night, big baby.”

I giggled. “Good night, Toni.”

We hung up, but we sat there at our respective windows gazing at each other from afar, just like how we’d done all those nights before, when we were young, innocent, and carefree, with nothing else to worry about except each other. But now, we had so much more. We had our babies, for one.

It was just after ten at night when Toni finally blew a kiss at me and left, possibly so that I would go to sleep early and stop staring at him. I made my way back to bed, tucked a pillow under my knees and lay back with a sigh.

I could hardly believe that I was getting married. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep with a smile, a blissful smile that was reserved for all my thoughts about Toni – my pillar of strength, the light of my life and my entire universe, my best friend forever; and tomorrow, to be my beloved husband.


	12. My Mirror, My Sword and Shield

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The songs accompanying this chapter are A Sky Full Of Stars by Coldplay and Heaven Can Wait by We The Kings.

Gabi’s POV

“Close your legs, lady,” Amelie ordered. “You’re going to stretch out your dress!”

“But I can’t!” I tried in vain to close my legs, but when I did, I’d fall over backwards. Amelie brought me a chair and made me sit on it as she did my hair, but she’d yell at me when I leaned backwards. It was horrible.

“Well, that explains why you’re pregnant,” she said.

“Amelie! That’s so mean!”

“I’m kidding, Gabi. Okay, fine, don’t close your legs. But don’t be cranky if your dress is all stretched out later.”

As much as a bully she was being, it was funny. It was so fun to spend time with Amelie again as she dressed me up and made me pretty.

My mum peeked around the door and brought in a cup of tea. “Baby, drink something,” she handed it to me. “You’ve got to hydrate.”

“Better give her a straw, or she’ll dribble all over herself,” Amelie said. From her reflection in the mirror, I caught her smirking.

“Don’t be mean to your sister, Amy,” my mum chided. Amelie hated that nickname, so she used it on purpose. She made her way behind us and examined me in the mirror. My makeup was almost done except for my lipstick, and Amelie was busy combing my hair up into a nice bun so she could put the veil on. I eyed my mum in anticipation as I sipped the tea in the most ladylike manner I could manage.

My mum beamed at me in the mirror, a longing look in her eyes. “You look beautiful, Gabriele.”

“Thanks, ma,” I smiled.

Amelie finally finished with my hair and stood back proudly to examine her work. She picked up the veil and the lipstick and handed them to my mum. “Here, have some nice mother-daughter time,” she told her, before leaning over and giving me a kiss on the cheek. “Love you, sis. You’re gorgeous.”

My mum continued gazing dreamily at me in the mirror. I stared back at her, not entirely sure what to say or do. Despite already being four months pregnant, I’d never talked to her about the whole pregnant bride thing. She’d left all the planning to me and Toni.

“Hey, mum,” I finally said softly.

“Gabi, you look fantastic,” she said, tears brimming in her eyes. “You’re glowing.”

“Mum, don’t cry please,” I said, afraid that her crying would also make  _me_  cry.

“You two remind me of me and your dad,” she continued. “So young, so in love…”

“I sure hope we’ll grow old together like you two,” I smiled.

“Oh, Gabi, you will. He loves you so much.”

“And I love him.”

She smiled and wiped her tears. “You know, I look at the both of you and I think to myself, your babies are going to be so beautiful.”

“Mum!!!” I laugh-sobbed.

“Well, they are,” she sat down on Amelie’s seat and picked up the tube of red lipstick. “And I’m going to be the proudest grandmother.”

“Hear that?” I rubbed my tummy, feeling the soft lace under my fingers. “We all love you. Be good, okay?”

My mum laughed. “That’s what I used to do when I was having you, because you were so naughty and you always kicked me.”

“Maybe that’s why I’m going to end up marrying a footballer.”

“Oh, Gabi!” she cackled. “Come on! Stop fooling around. Let’s get this thing on you.” She picked up the veil and put it on my hair, adjusting it so it was straight and it fell nicely down my back right before the strapless dress started, so the corset back wasn’t covered.

She gave me a light kiss on my cheek like Amelie did, before she stood up, smiled at my reflection one last time, and left the room to give me my last few minutes of alone time.

I stood up and went to the full-length mirror, smoothening out my dress and making sure the mermaid tail flared out nicely. Contrary to what Amelie had been warning me about, the thigh portion of the dress hadn’t stretched out. The whole dress clung to me comfortably up until the mid-thigh, where the fishtail started. My belly was nicely emphasized. My beautiful children.

I picked up the bouquet of flowers lying on the table – a beautiful array of roses of different shades of white and cream, spotted with some deep red ones. The whole thing was tied together with a nice silver ribbon. Toni had painstakingly made it for me and sent Felix over with it this morning. I was so worried about everything, I’d almost forgotten about the bouquet. I was thankful that Toni hadn’t.

I smiled at my own reflection. Even though I still hadn’t mentioned about the whole pregnant bride mini-controversy to my mum, I felt relieved after the short chat with her, because I finally knew that she wasn’t bothered by it at all. I loved Toni, and he loved me. And I was going to be his wife. His beautiful bride. It didn’t matter that I had a big belly and sore feet. I was going to marry the love of my life, and I felt like the luckiest woman on the planet. I felt beautiful.

Toni’s POV

Felix nudged me as I stood there fidgeting with my cuffs, not being able to stand still as we waited for the proceedings to begin. “Toni, chill.”

“Yeah, Toni, chill,” Amelie teased from the bridesmaid’s position.

I sighed. “Why is it taking so long? Is she okay? Will she run –“

“Shut up!” Felix whispered, trying his best not to shriek at me. “She won’t!”

“But –“

“Shhh, see, ” he shoved me to face the front as the music began playing, a nice cheerful tune as the ring bearer and the flower girl made their way down the aisle. I smiled as they approached; they were such adorable little kids, the children of our neighbours down the street. They reached the front just in time, taking their positions beside me just as the wedding march started.

And then, the heavy front doors swung open again to reveal Mr. Meiser, who was smiling proudly at me – and Gabi, my beautiful Gabriele standing right behind him, her eyes piercing straight through mine with the most loving gaze. She was almost glowing, radiating joy and peace and everything lovely. Turning around, Mr. Meiser hooked Gabi’s arm in his and led her slowly down the aisle. In her other hand, she held the bouquet of flowers I’d made for her. Her red lipstick matched the dark red roses perfectly and her Toni and Gabi necklace glittered meaningfully in the light. The front of her dress puffed out as she kicked out with each step she took, trying her best not to trip on it. And her veil was held on firmly with a daisy flower crown pinned to her bun. The remaining ash brown curls fell and framed her face beautifully. She was stunning. My stunning Gabriele. My glowing bride. Dazzling me yet again with her beauty.

Of course, I’d seen her in the dress before, but on that day, she looked gorgeous. I wasn’t sure if it was just the atmosphere or the nerves, but Gabi looked extra beautiful on that day.

Her eyes never left mine as she took the three steps up the platform and stood in front of me. Mr. Meiser reached over and gave me a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Special delivery,” he grinned. “Take care of my baby.”

“I will,” I told him, not being able to peel my eyes off Gabi as he turned and took his seat in the front row. “Hey, gorgeous,” I said to Gabi.

“Hi, handsome,” she giggled softly, passing her bouquet to Amelie, who was trying her best not to roll her eyes at us. She took both my hands in hers.

“You look fantastic,” I told her.

“Thank you, baby. You look  _damn fine_.”

“How are you feeling?”

Her smile grew wider as her eyes started dancing to an unheard beat. “Beautiful,” she mouthed.

It was as if fireworks had gone off in my chest the moment she said that word. She finally saw it. She finally knew that she was a beautiful bride.  _My_ beautiful bride. She was finally aware that her dream of being a radiant bride had come true. Reflecting her smile, I gave her hands a soft squeeze.

The judge smiled at us encouragingly. “Mr. Kroos, Ms. Meiser, please say your vows.”

“I, Toni Kroos, take you, Gabriele Meiser, as my beloved wife. I love you, Gabriele, for who you are and who I am when I’m with you. I love you for all the great times we’ve had together, and for all the great times to come. This is my promise of love to you. I promise to love, cherish and respect you, to uphold all your dreams and wishes to the best of my abilities. I promise to pick you up when you are down, to stay by your side through sickness and in health – and in memory loss – and to be there to wipe every single tear of yours. I promise to have the most fun we could ever have together with our children, and to care for and give to our family all that you need and want. I promise that from this day forward, you will never, ever have to be alone again, for my heart will always be your shelter.”

I picked up the ring from the grinning ring bearer and slipped it on her finger as she let out a childish giggle. She took my hands again, her grip tightening as she began her vow.

“I, Gabriele Meiser, take you, Toni Kroos, as my beloved husband. You are my best friend, my lover, and my most precious companion. Whatever life may bring, all these will never change. This is my promise of love to you. I promise to uphold your career and your ambitions, to respect your every choice, and to be your number one fan. I promise to never stand in the way of wherever your life may take you, and to be by your side to love and support you always. I promise to give you all that I can, through every illness and every injury, no matter how small. I promise to always hold you and our children in my dreams, in all my thoughts and decisions, for the rest of my life. I promise to be spontaneous, fun, and the best parent I could ever be with you by my side. I promise to let you love me, and that is how I will forever be yours.”

A face-splitting grin took over her as she reached over eagerly for my ring and slipped it onto my finger. And then, finally, we were one.

“Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Kroos. I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Without any hesitation, I reached over, cupped Gabi’s cheeks with my hands, leaned over her huge belly, and kissed her on the lips. She smiled into the kiss, grabbing my biceps to support herself.

“Hey, husband,” she whispered.

“Oh, Gabi,” I kissed her some more. “My wonderful wife.”

“I’m Gabriele Kroos now,” she said as she kissed me back.

“That sounds perfect.”

“Okay, okay, enough,” Felix came over and pried us apart. “Get a room.”

“Yeah, man,” Amelie joined in, passing Gabi her bouquet. “Then you can do all the kissing you want.”

So Gabi hooked her arm in mine and leaned her head on my shoulder as we made our way back up the aisle to the front doors, the guests happily throwing rice at us on the way out. The train on Gabi’s dress dragged out behind her, making her look like a queen.

Which she was. She was my queen. She would forever be.

Gabi’s POV

Toni heaved a sigh of relief as he wrapped me in his arms for our first dance. I leaned my head on his shoulder as gently as I could over my belly.

I was in an elegant dark blue gown that had a flared out waist and ended perfectly at my feet. The top was silk with nicely tied blue ribbon shoulder straps. After finding out the wonderful miracle of corset backs, Toni had insisted that this dress have one, too, despite it not matching the flared skirt. Needless to say, both dresses counted as custom-made and cost millions. But I didn’t really mind, because he was gently caressing my skin over the corset ribbons.

“Sexy dress?” I murmured.

“Sexy you,” he kissed the back of my ear.

“You know, right until yesterday, I’ve never heard you call me sexy.”

“I call you sexy all the time in my head, baby.”

I giggled. “Don’t talk dirty in front of our babies, Toni.”

He leaned over and put his mouth close to my bump. “Sorry, babies, your mummy is just too sexy,” he whispered.

“Toni! They’re going to be horny even before they’re born.”

He laughed. “That’s a good start.”

I sighed as I put my head back on his shoulder and we swayed gently to the beat. I felt him kiss the back of my ear again, and I asked, “Where are we going for our honeymoon?”

“Honeymoon? With this?” he touched my belly gently.

“We’re going to bring our babies for our honeymoon? We’re supposed to be alone.”

“Gabi, it’s fine. We can always ask someone to take care of them. Like our parents.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” I sighed again. “Where, though? Manchester?”

“Manchester?!” he repeated, shocked.

I burst out laughing in his ear. “Well, that’s where everybody is saying you’re going.”

“Oh,” he said loudly when he realised I was referring to the transfer rumour. “Well, maybe. Can we not talk about this now?”

“Okay, baby,” I murmured. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” he smiled against my hair, which had been let down and re-styled by none other than Amelie. “Thank you, Gabriele.”

“For what? Don’t be silly. I’m your wife.”

“For everything. For being my wife, for one. And for having my babies. My beautiful babies.”

“How do you know they’re beautiful? They aren’t even born yet.”

“They’re beautiful because they’re ours, Gabi. And because they’ll look like you, and you’re the most beautiful woman in the entire universe.”

I giggled. “I have such a cheesy husband.”

“Everything is better with cheese,” he nuzzled my ear.

“Toni!” I exclaimed. I rubbed my tummy hungrily. “You’ve just made me hungry for cheese.”

“Really?” he pulled away, held me by the shoulders and examined me from head to toe. “I’m sure we have some cheese somewhere.”

“Can we go get it?” I asked eagerly. I was suddenly really hungry for cheese.

“No, I’ll get it,” he said, catching sight of Felix scuttling past. He reached out and grabbed him by the arm. “Felix, stay with her. I’m going to get some cheese.”

Felix stared at me questioningly as Toni disappeared into the sea of bodies. “Is that a secret code for something?” he asked.

“No!” I burst out laughing. “I’m just craving for cheese.”

“Oh,” he said, seemingly relieved. “Well…let’s dance, I guess?”

He put his hands on my waist, so I put mine on his shoulders. “Thanks for staying with me, Felix.”

“Aw, it’s no problem,” he smiled. “Congratulations, Gabi. You look fabulous.”

“Thank you,” I smiled back, removing a hand to rest on my bump. “Your uncle says you look fabulous.”

He laughed. “Remember when you brought those cookies over? I asked if you had a boyfriend, and Toni got pissed with me.”

“Yeah,” I chuckled at the memory. “Funny how things turned out.”

“He fell in love with you at first glance, Gabi. That’s why I asked. He couldn’t take his eyes off you. He was completely smitten.”

“No!”

“Yes! I saw you two when you were sitting in the living room, when you thought there was nobody around. You were just sitting there awkwardly, but he was staring at you as if he’d never seen such a beautiful girl in his life. You didn’t notice, but I did. And it was wonderful. I’d never seen my brother look at  _anybody_  like that, ever.”

“But…” I protested. “But he didn’t even know me then.”

“He  _wanted to_  know you, for sure,” Felix laughed, his eyes flickering with joy. “And now he knows you inside out, and the look hasn’t gone away. He always looks at you with that look. Oh, Gabi, you have no idea. It makes me so fuzzy inside when he looks at you. He  _adores_ you. He can’t bear to be apart from you.”

I felt myself blush. I’d always felt like I was the one being a big fangirl over Toni, and that he was the nonchalant one. It was refreshing to hear another person’s opinion. “Well then, thank you Felix.”

He laughed again. “I’m so glad you two are married. You’re perfect for each other.”

I smacked him on the shoulder gently. “Stop being so mushy! The babies are squirming in disgust.”

“Really?” his eyes widened, and I nodded, teasing him. He started to put his hand on my belly, but stopped when it was almost there, hovering a few inches above it. “Um…can I touch?”

“Yeah, sure.”

He put his hand on it, pausing for a moment. “Hmm…yeah, I can feel them squirming,” he said lovingly. “I can’t wait to meet them.”

“They can’t wait to meet you, either. They think you’re the best uncle ever.”

“Aww,” he beamed. “Such kind babies.”

“Thank you for setting us up, Felix,” I said.

He burst out laughing and gave me a friendly squeeze on the shoulder. “No problem, sister.”

His hands returned to my waist and mine to his shoulders, and we stood there swaying silently to the music, waiting for Toni to return with my cheese.

And then, finally, he did. He returned with a little plate filled with small pieces of different cheeses and some crackers. Felix left, but not before giving me a polite kiss on the cheek and congratulating me again.

“I’m not sure I like all these people kissing you tonight,” Toni grumbled as I was busy stuffing my face with the cheese.

I laughed, even though my mouth was still full of cheese and crackers. “Jealous?”

“Yes. No one is kissing  _me!_ ”

I swallowed the rest of the food and used a napkin to wipe my mouth. “Because only the bride can do that!”

“Can the bride do that right now?”

“Of course,” I puckered my lips.

He chuckled lovingly before leaning in and placing his lips gently on mine, moving slowly into a passionate kiss. “I love you so much, Gabriele,” he whispered against my lips.

“I love you more,” I pulled away and leaned my head against his. “A little bird told me that you adore me.”

His eyes lit up with joy. “That little bird is right.”

“The little bird also told me that you were smitten since the first time you saw me.”

He blushed a slight pink. “Is the little bird named Felix? Because I’m going to cook him for supper right now.”

“The little bird has a wonderful brother,” I added.

His temples crinkled in a stunning smile. “And a gorgeous sister-in-law.”

Just then, I caught sight of Amelie gazing at us from a few feet away, her hands clasped in front of her and her eyes clouded over with a dreamy look. I gave her a questioning look, and she made her way over to us.

“Sorry to interrupt your…uh…literally cheesy moment,” she glanced at my half-empty plate. “But can I talk to Toni?”

“Of course,” I let go of his arm and made my way to the nearest chair. My feet were getting sore, anyway. “Have fun!”

Toni’s POV

“Dance?” I held out a hand to Amelie, and she gladly took it.

“So, how’s married life so far?” she asked.

“Great,” I laughed, and then sighed. “Because I’m married to your sister.”

“Take care of her, okay?” she smiled. “I mean, not that I don’t trust you to. Ever since I saw all you did for her while she was in that coma, and even after she’d woken up, I’ve never once doubted your love for her.”

“Aw, thank you,” I smiled back at her.

“It’s just…Gabi is a very confused girl,” she continued. “She doesn’t know herself. And I’m sure you know that. She has been infatuated with you ever since you two became friends. I tried to tell her that, but she denied it, just as she  _always_ does, because she really doesn’t know what she is thinking. But she always shows it on her face. I’m sure you know that by now. She loves you more than anything else, Toni, just look at her. I mean, I knew you two were meant to be together the first time I saw her watch a Bayern match when you played. But Gabi is…she’s…she  _literally does not know_  herself. She needs the people around her to help her, and care for her, and I know that’s what you’ve been doing all this while. That’s what makes you two so good together, because she needs someone like you and you’re willing to give it all to her.”

I laughed at the description, because it was spot-on. Gabi was the most muddled girl I’d ever known, but that just made her much more adorable. “Thank you, Amelie.”

“I grew up with her, and seeing her so mature now, so grown up, married and pregnant…let’s just say I never thought I’d see her like this. She’s changed so much ever since she’s been with you, and for the better too. I don’t know what you’re doing with her, but it’s great. Continue showering her with all your love. She loves you very much, even though she’s so confused and unsure of herself all the time.”

“I know,” I smiled. Gabi really had changed so much. “I’ve grown so used to Gabi and her candidness. But that’s just…that’s just one of the many things I love about her,” I said, blushing slightly at all the mushy things I’d just said.

“Don’t be shy,” Amelie laughed and nudged me gently on the shoulder. “You two are the most perfect couple ever. And I just know that you two will take care of each other for eternity. Have fun tonight, okay? I can’t wait to meet my new nieces. Or nephews. Or both.”

She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before squeezing my hand encouragingly and leaving to find her boyfriend. I made my way back to Gabi and smiled proudly at her. “I got a kiss, too,” I said.

Gabi burst out laughing. “Well, congratulations.”

“How’re your cute little feet?” I asked.

She lifted her long skirt and turned her ankles. She was still wearing her silver ballet shoes which she wore for the wedding. “Sore,” she pouted.

“Aw, baby, do you want to go back and rest?” I put my hands on her shoulders and gave her a soft massage. She smiled as she leaned back into me. We’d booked the biggest suite in a Munich hotel to spend our first night together, away from everybody else.

“Can we just leave our own party like that?” she asked.

“Well, it’s  _our_  party,” I kissed her on the head. “Let’s go tell our parents we’re leaving.”

We made our way through the crowd, hand in hand, stopping to greet some of my teammates and their other halves, to tell them we’re leaving and that we hope they’d enjoy the rest of the party. Gabi stopped at the edge of the dance floor, gazing dreamily at the couples dancing in the middle.

Suddenly, she burst out laughing. “Look at Manuel!”

I spotted Manu in the crowd, obviously drunk and stumbling around in what he must have thought was some form of dance. Thomas was with him, stumbling around in unison. There was an obvious clearing around them, where the other guests had moved away from in fear of being accidentally whacked in the face. I burst out laughing as well, and the both of us stood there giggling goofily at my teammates until we made eye contact with their other halves Kathrin and Lisa.

“Whoops,” Gabi whispered to me as she saw them, probably thinking that they would be angry with us for laughing. Fortunately, they just gave us shy smiles and apologetic gestures.

“Are they apologising for their boyfriends being such huge dorks or because they’re stealing our limelight?” I mumbled to Gabi.

She laughed again. “Probably for stealing our limelight. Look at them! Such naturals.”

We waved at Kathrin and Lisa and continued to find both sets of our parents, who were sitting together in a small circle chatting happily.

“There they are!” my mum stood up and clapped her hands excitedly as she caught sight of us. “Let’s all take a picture together.”

So we stood there as they bustled around us merrily, until we finally got a decent photo taken with all six of us in it. And then Felix and Amelie popped by, so they decided to get another one. After it all, Gabi started wobbling on her feet, so I decided it was time to go.

“Uh…” I tried to get my turn in their busy chatter. “We were thinking of getting to the hotel first. Gabi’s tired.”

“Oh, okay,” my dad beamed lovingly at the both of us. “Take care. Don’t worry about the party, we’ll handle it.”

I thanked them as they moved in one by one to hug the both of us and congratulate us. Gabi gave me a tired smile as I took her hand again and we prepared to leave.

“Oh, your babies are going to be so beautiful,” Gabi’s dad said with tears brimming in his eyes.

Gabi’s mouth fell open in horror. “Dad!”

“They are,” my parents added in, and the four of them stood there gazing at us dreamily.

“Okay, let’s go,” I said jokingly, carefully ushering Gabi out the front. “Have fun, and thanks!”

Gabi’s POV

I sighed as I sat at the dressing table and combed my hair, still wearing the blue dress which I was too lazy to take off. Toni sat on the edge of the bed and watched me, a dreamy look in his eyes.

“What?” I asked as I swept my hair up into a bun.

“I love you, Gabriele.”

“Aww,” I smiled at his sudden affectionate tone. “I love you, too.”

“Can I take off your dress?”

“Well, that escalated quickly.”

“Please? I really want to take off your dress.”

I got up and walked to the bed, sitting down beside him. “Do you…want to do…it?”

“It?” he asked. “If ‘it’ refers to consummating our marriage, then yes, I do.”

I burst out laughing. “That sounds so old-fashioned!”

“Please? I want to untie this,” he reached over and gently stroked the lines of ribbons on my corset. “Such a sexy dress. For a sexy girl.”

“Toni, I’m pregnant.”

“That didn’t stop us the other time,” he smiled, still stroking the ribbons, caressing the skin underneath them and sending shivers down my spine.

I blushed and bit my lip to suppress a giggle when I thought about the previous time we did it, about two months ago, when my belly wasn’t that huge. It was nice. And he was gentle. And I thought, this was our wedding night – it happened once in a lifetime, and I wanted to remember it. I was sure Toni was up for that.

“Okay,” I whispered.

So he turned me around and slowly, carefully untied the ribbon and unlaced the corset before peeling off the dress. And then, finally, we were one again – slowly, gently, lovingly, passionately; savouring every single moment, every touch, every kiss, every heated whisper of ‘I love you;’ enjoying the very first moments of which we were one family, for each other to love, to hold, and to cherish for the rest of our lives.


	13. Perfect Family

Gabi’s POV

I started cackling as they finally drew out the slip of paper for Bayern and paired them with Manchester United, leading Toni to stare at me in confusion. The look on his face caused me to laugh even harder and flop over backwards on the couch.

“What’s so funny?” he demanded.

“You  _are_  going to Manchester!”

“Gabi!” he rolled his eyes. “That’s not even funny!”

“It is! A few days ago you were all ‘Gabi, I’m not going to Manchester,’ and now you have to go to Manchester!”

“I’m going to Manchester to play  _against_  them, okay? Not  _for_  them.”

“Okay,” I giggled. “Promise.”

“I promise. Jesus, Gabi. Come on, we have to get to the hospital.”

I got up, turned off the television and followed Toni out to the car. It was just a couple of days after our wedding, and we had an ultrasound scheduled. Toni had told me over and over that talks were still ongoing with Bayern and that he wasn’t going to move if they could reach an agreement, but I couldn’t help but worry, especially since those talks didn’t seem to be going anywhere.

I wanted our babies to be born in Germany, in our home country, where we were both from. I didn’t really fancy all the hassle of having babies in another country. But I was pretty sure that an agreement would be reached, even though Toni was so mysterious and aloof about the entire thing.

He smiled and leaned over to give me a kiss as I settled on the medical table in the doctor’s room and waited for Dr. Gerber.

She appeared with that motherly smile of hers, sliding over in her chair and dragging the ultrasound machine together with her.

“How’re our favourite twins today?” she beamed.

“Fine, thank you,” I smiled.

She spread the gel over me and placed the detector on, moving around until she saw them on the screen. “There they are!” she pointed.

We were getting a little better at reading the black and white blur, so this time we managed to see what she was seeing. “Can you see their gender yet?” Toni asked.

She was silent as she navigated my bump. “Well…boys are usually easier to tell, for obvious reasons,” she laughed. “But it really depends on their positions. For now, I can only see one of them, and it’s a boy.”

“A boy!” I exclaimed. “That’s so cool.”

“Could they be two boys?” Toni asked eagerly.

“Probably, but as I’ve told you during your previous scan, they’re non-identical. The most common combination for that is a boy and a girl.“

Toni gazed at me happily. “One each,” he whispered as he leaned over and pecked my forehead gently.

“A boy and a girl,” I giggled. “That’s perfect.”

“It is,” she beamed. “It’s not always that two eggs get implanted at once.”

“You have magic ovaries,” Toni leaned over and whispered in my ear.

“Toni!” I smacked him on the shoulder.

“And a magic uterus,” he added.

“Stop flaunting your knowledge of the female reproductive system!”

He didn’t reply, he just beamed at me proudly. This led Dr. Gerber to laugh loudly as she moved the detector over my belly for a while longer before putting everything away and handing me a clean towel. “Everything’s fine,” she informed us. “You can come back in around three weeks to a month.”

Toni’s POV

“Um…” Gabi suddenly stopped Dr. Gerber as she was leaving. “Is it safe for me to travel?”

My first thought was that she was preparing for my imminent move. Even though I hadn’t told her, it seemed pretty obvious to me that I’d have to move by the end of the summer. It was just a matter of location.

Dr. Gerber returned to her seat near us. “That depends. But it should be fine for you because you seem to be a very healthy mum. You have to continue taking care of yourself. How many hours is the flight? When are you travelling?”

Gabi glanced at me, and in that moment I knew she wasn’t asking because she was preparing for my move. There was a dreamy, almost proud look in her eyes. She reached over and grabbed my hand tightly.

“Around fourteen hours. I’m going in June. To watch my husband play the World Cup.”

“Fourteen hours?” Dr. Gerber wrinkled her brow. “That’s pretty long. And you’ll be entering your third trimester.”

“So…I can’t go?”

“I can’t give you a definite answer, but as long as you maintain your health and take all the necessary precautions, it should be fine. I’ll let you know closer to the date.”

The excitement in Gabi’s eyes had dimmed a little as we got up and left the room, her hand in mine.

“Are you sure you want to go?” I asked.

“Of course,” she smiled.

“You don’t have to, you know? I just want all three of you to be okay.”

“I want to. I’ll be fine, Toni.”

“Will you take someone with you? What about work?”

“I’ll be part of the team,” she squeezed my hand gently as I let go of it to take the wheel. “I’m sure Amelie or my parents would love to go. And I’ll probably meet Louise there.”

“Or I could ask Felix?”

“What is this, a family gathering?” she laughed.

“I just want you to be well taken care of, baby. I’m sorry I can’t be there.”

“Don’t worry about us, Toni,” she fondled her bump lovingly. “We’ll be fine. And it’s still more than two months away.”

——

I was awoken by someone gently nudging and prodding me with her fingers. I opened my eyes to find Gabi staring at me in the dark, her blue eyes glowing.

“What is it?” I asked groggily.

“I’m hungry,” she grumbled.

“Now?” I turned and checked the time. It was past two in the morning.

“Now,” she whined.

“What do you want to eat?”

She paused as she pondered the answer to my question. “Lettuce.”

“Lettuce?” I asked. “That’s weird.”

“I want lettuce, baby.”

“Okay, okay,” I sighed, getting up. It was yet another of her midnight cravings. “Anything else?”

“Bananas.”

“Lettuce and bananas,” I repeated, slightly disgusted by the peculiar combination. “Okay, got it. Do you want to wait here? Downstairs?”

“Downstairs,” she climbed out of bed eagerly and followed me downstairs, sitting on a kitchen stool to watch me make her food.

Her eyes lit up with joy as I brought her a lettuce salad with a hard-boiled egg and some chicken strips, along with a banana milkshake.

“Thank you, baby,” she said, her mouth full. “It’s delicious.”

“Happy?” I asked, reaching over to wipe off a drop of banana milkshake that had gotten stuck on her chin. She was like a child.

She nodded happily and slurped up the rest of the banana milkshake before pushing the bowl back to me, still a quarter filled with the salad – she’d gobbled up all the lettuce and left bits of the other ingredients. I picked up a piece of the remaining chicken and popped it into my mouth before placing the bowl in the sink and joining her in the living room.

We’d specially gotten a huge cosy armchair with a leg rest for her during this time, and she’d sunk into it and buried herself under a blanket. I sat on the couch across from her and turned on the TV.

“Don’t you wanna go to bed?” she asked. She looked so comfortable all bundled up.

“I’ll sit with you.”

She sighed and sunk lower into the armchair. “I love you, Toni.”

“I love you too, baby,” I grabbed a chair and sat down in front of her. “Are your feet sore?”

She peeked out from beneath her blanket, a slow shy smile creeping across her face as she nodded.

Gabi’s POV

Toni suddenly grabbed my feet and placed them on his lap, using his fingers to massage my ankles gently. Truth was, I was too shy to tell him that my feet were sore, because he’d done so many things for me and I was just sitting there like a useless twig. And if I told him, he’d want to do something for me  _again_.

Yet, there he was, reading my mind and knowing the one thing that was bugging me after he’d helped me satisfy the ridiculous food cravings. I smiled at him lovingly as he worked his way down my foot and back up to my ankles.

He was smiling to himself as he did it, but when he looked up towards me, the dreamy look on his face suddenly turned to one of worry.

“What’s wrong?” he asked worriedly, dragging his chair so he was sitting right beside me. I just stared at him, confused, until he asked, “Gabi, baby, why are you crying? Did I hurt you?”

“I’m crying?” I whispered.

He laughed lovingly, seemingly relieved to know that I wasn’t sad. “Yes, darling, you are.”

“Oh.”

He used his thumbs to sweep my tears aside. “You are so cute.”

I couldn’t suppress my giggle. “Aw, thank you,” I felt myself blush.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes,” I said as I felt tears prick the back of my eyes again. I reached over and grabbed him by the back of the neck, pulling him closer for a hug. “I love you so much,” I sobbed. “I love you.”

“I love you too, baby,” he stroked my back gently. “Why are you crying? Talk to me.”

“I don’t know,” I wrapped my arms more tightly around him. “I just…I love you. I love you so much, it hurts. My heart hurts from all the loving.”

“Oh, Gabi,” he chuckled. “I love you, too. Don’t forget that, okay?”

“I’m sorry I’m so…like this. So…lazy and tired. And you’re just…doing everything for me. I’m sorry. Thank you so much.”

“Gabi, we’re married now,” he whispered. “You don’t have to thank me or say sorry.”

“Does it bother you?” I asked. “That we can’t spend any time alone together after getting married? That…we’re having kids so early?”

He pulled away and smiled sadly as he swept my unkempt hair out of my face. “It did, a little.”

“It did?” the tone of his voice made me start crying all over again.

“Yeah, Gabi, it did. Because I love you, and you finally came back to me, and I wanted to spend all my time with you and go to places with you and do things together, but then the babies came along so quickly and now we can’t anymore. I only had a year to spend with you again. But that was before. Not now, not anymore. Because they’re  _our_  babies. And the four of us, we’ll be one happy family, okay? And we can spend all the time together and go to places and do things. All four of us. Together.”

“So…it doesn’t bother you anymore?”

“It doesn’t, baby. Because I just know that whenever I look at them, I’ll see you. I’ll see your beautiful eyes and your beautiful smile. And everything will be alright.”

“What if they have your eyes and your smile?” I sobbed.

“Then they’ll have some other thing that’s yours. And I’ll love them with all my heart because they’re the wonderful combination of our chromosomes.”

“Oh, Toni,” I whispered. What else could I say? He always managed to solve every single problem with just a few soothing words. I had no idea how. And I’d been needing that so often nowadays, with all the mood swings and morning sickness making me cranky.

Suddenly, a horrible thought came into my mind – what if one day he gets tired of all my crying and the babies’ crying, and he decides to leave? That thought came so suddenly and shocked me so bad that I bolted upright and out of his arms.

“What?” he asked, equally shocked.

“Nothing,” I whispered, desperately drying my tears and snot on my sleeve. “Nothing. I won’t cry anymore. No more crying.”

He burst out laughing. “Why?”

“Because I’m a huge sticky mess, and then when the babies are born they’ll be two small sticky messes, and you don’t deserve to deal with so many sticky messes.”

“But you’re all  _my_  sticky messes,” he beamed, as if he was proud to own a pile of snot.

Just then, I felt a movement in my belly area, from deep within. I gasped as I realised what it was.

“Toni!” I exclaimed. “They’re kicking me!”

“Really?” he put his hand on my bump and leaned closer. The movement came again. “Oh, my God, they’re kicking you!”

“I bet it’s the boy,” I giggled through my remaining tears. “He likes to play football already.”

Toni smiled proudly and put his face close to my belly. “Don’t hurt your sister, little boy,” he said in a ridiculous, half-warning tone.

“How do you know it’s a sister?”

“It has to be!” he rubbed my belly gently. “Then you can go shopping with her while I play football with our son.”

“But can’t we play football too?”

“Do you want to?”

“Yes! We need to teach them how to kick the ball into the bin.”

He laughed, and then leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Or we can kick  _them_  into the bin.”

I gasped again. “Toni! They can hear us!”

“Oh, is that why they kicked you? Because you called them sticky messes?”

I nodded, laughing along with him. Deciding that the chair was uncomfortable, he got up and returned to the couch, where he patted the empty space beside him and beckoned me over. I went over and leaned into his arms, the most comfortable place in the whole wide world.

“Toni,” I whispered, and he grunted in response. “If we have a girl, can we call her Mia?”

“Mia?”

“For ‘mia san mia.’”

I felt him stiffen slightly against me, and I was about to sit upright to see what was wrong, but he pulled me back down and rested his chin on my head, still seemingly nervous.

“Yeah,” he cleared his throat. “Mia sounds amazing.”

So we sat there, wanting to drift off to sleep but not being able to because we were too engrossed in planning what we were going to do when the babies were born; detailing every plan we made, discussing everything we would give them. And soon, even Toni’s strange reaction to my question was cast aside as our lovely children occupied my mind fully – way before they were due to occupy my entire life.


	14. Rude Awakening

Gabi’s POV

I watched in horror as goal after goal was knocked in. I watched as Toni slumped over in the middle of the field, his hands on his knees, his head hung low. I watched as he eventually gave up and stopped running, and as he trudged down the tunnel right after the final whistle was blown.

I got up, walked out the back door of the VIP box and out into the parking lot. I got into the car and wound down the window so I could feel the wind. I couldn’t cry.

Happy mummy, happy babies.

I repeated that like a mantra. I closed my eyes. Happy babies.

I grabbed the Bayern cushion in the backseat and hugged it tightly. Declining the chair so that I was comfortable, I closed my eyes and let myself drift; drift to somewhere nice, somewhere with happier times.

I’d already fallen asleep when the slamming of the driver’s door awoke me. Toni was sitting in the driver’s seat, furiously turning the ignition. His hair was in a complete mess. He didn’t turn to look at me.

“Baby, you okay?” I whispered, afraid of his possible outburst.

“No,” he snapped.

I cringed. “Sorry.”

He leaned his head back on the headrest and sighed loudly as I slid the seat back to its original position and sat staring at him nervously. Suddenly, he opened his eyes, reached over, grabbed me and pulled me in for a hug.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he mumbled into my hair. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s not your fault,” I whispered.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, his voice trembling slightly. He didn’t pull away to examine me like he always did, probably so I wouldn’t see the look on his face.

“I’m fine,” I turned slightly and planted a soft kiss in the crook of his neck. “You?”

He didn’t reply. His grip on me tightened, his hand moving up and running down my hair, and his chin moving to rest on my shoulder, but he didn’t reply.

I placed my hands gently on his back and moved them up and down, feeling the softness of his sweatshirt, the warmness of his back and the quickness of his breaths. I didn’t know what else I could do to make him feel better. I wanted so much for him to forget it all. But I didn’t know what to do.

So we just sat there, arms wrapped around each other, breathing in each other’s familiar scents, until he finally pulled away and gave me a wry smile. He didn’t say anything else as he started the car and drove out of the parking lot.

The drive home from the Allianz Arena was quite a long one, and I was growing sleepier by the second with the slow traffic and the cool wind blowing in my face. The magazine I was reading wasn’t even entertaining enough. Toni didn’t talk to me at all, which didn’t help in keeping me awake. Before I knew it, I’d fallen asleep again.

Toni’s POV

Gabi was asleep by the time we pulled up on our street. I took the time I had to take deep breaths and compose myself. It had been a horrible night so far, and I just wanted to forget it.

I turned and looked at Gabi. There was still a torn expression on her face even as she slept. I reached over and removed the magazine in her hands, placing it on the dashboard.

Suddenly, her face was illuminated by the distinct yellow of car headlights. I turned to the front only to see one of our neighbours from down the street stopping at the end of his driveway as he was on his way out. He waved at me, and I gave a friendly wave back. His headlights flooded the entire interior of our car as he turned out into the street, causing Gabi to stir.

One moment, her eyes were still closed and she was moving restlessly; the next, her eyes were wide open and she was screaming at the top of her lungs. Initially not knowing where the sound was coming from, I put my hands to my ears.

Gabi’s hands flew to cover her face and her shoulders started shaking uncontrollably. As the ringing in my ears died down, I removed my hands and asked her, “Gabi, baby, what’s wrong?”

“The lights,” she whimpered. “The lights…so bright.”

The headlights from the car. I reached over and grabbed her hand, wanting to hold it in mine, but she started screaming again.

“No!” she yelled. “No…don’t hit me. Don’t hit me.”

I retracted my hand in confusion. “I’m not going to hit you, Gabi.”

“Don’t hit me,” she sobbed again. “Please. I don’t want to die…I don’t want to forget…don’t hit me. Please…please don’t hit me. No…please…no.”

The realisation hit me like a tsunami. She was afraid of the headlights. Because she was afraid to get hit by a car again, after the first time landed her in hospital and the second time nearly killed her for good.

And I remembered all those nights when she occupied herself with her magazine when we were in the car at night, when she never failed to look down at it whenever a car passed us directly. She always tried to minimise the number of times we went out at night with the car. We almost never went out in the car at night unless it was after a match. And even when we did, she was either engrossed in her magazine, or she was closing her eyes. She never looked directly at another car in the opposite direction.

But this time, she was caught completely unawares. She woke up to the headlights. And she thought she was going to die. She was scared. After all this time, she was still scared.

“Gabi,” I whispered, the horror robbing me of my voice. “It’s okay. It’s just the neighbours.”

“I don’t want to die,” she whispered, her shoulders still shaking. “Am I dead?”

“No, baby,” I reached over to hug her, but she recoiled from my grasp. I felt my stomach drop. “Gabi, it’s fine. Open your eyes, see? We’re in the car. We’re safe.”

The neighbour’s car had gone and it was dark again, so she peeked out from behind her fingers. Tears were streaming down her face. “I’m not dead?” she asked, her voice trembling.

“You’re not.”

“Oh, my God,” she burst into tears again. “I was so scared…I thought…I…”

“Shhh, baby,” I reached over and wrapped her into my arms. Thankfully, she didn’t pull away any more. “It’s alright. Everything’s fine. I’m here.”

“Toni,” she whimpered.

“Yeah?” I said softly. She didn’t say anything else. I ran my hands down her hair slowly. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m sorry I didn’t notice.”

“Toni,” she sighed, her entire body relaxing in my arms. I realised she was only saying my name to make sure I was really there.

Without letting go of her, I found her cheeks with my thumbs and wiped them dry of her tears. The guilt I felt was overwhelming. How could I not have noticed? I wiped the beads of sweat on her forehead and turned to place my lips gently on it. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

She was still shivering slightly from the aftershocks, so I took my sweatshirt off and wrapped it around her. Much to my surprise, she turned and smiled at me sadly.

“Do you wanna go to bed?” I asked.

She shook her head, grabbed my hand and ran her thumb in gentle circles. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“For what? I should be the one saying sorry. I’m sorry, Gabi. I can’t believe I didn’t notice it all along. I’m so sorry.”

She shrugged. “I didn’t want you to worry. And I’m fine. It’s just…just…” she stopped as tears fell out of her beautiful blue eyes once again.

“Don’t cry, Gabi, please. Please don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry I’m so useless.”

“You’re not useless,” I reached over and wiped her tears again. “Please don’t ever say that.”

“I’m sorry I ruined your night.”

I thought about it for a moment before remembering the horrible loss to Real Madrid. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing, leading her to stare at me curiously. “Gabi, my night was already ruined.”

“Oh,” she said, realising what I was referring to. The irony brought a genuine smile to her face as she shrugged. “I’m sorry I ruined it further.”

“You didn’t,” I assured her. I reached out and touched her bump. “Babies tired? Come on, let’s go to bed.”

“I’m not sleepy.”

I realised the shock probably made her more awake, so I asked, “Do you want to take a walk?”

She perked up significantly when I asked that question, and she nodded at me eagerly. “Can we take the dogs?”

“Okay, baby,” I smiled, getting out of the car and into the house to change out of my Bayern clothes and get Julius and Lennox even though I was exhausted after the match and I just wanted to sleep. But I could tell Gabi really needed some fresh air, so I headed out with her, this time on our feet.

She took Lennox’s leash without saying a word, and walked slowly beside me as we headed towards the park on our usual route. Her hand was freezing as I reached over and took it in mine.

“Cold?” I asked her.

She shook her head without looking at me.

“Have you always been this scared?” I asked after some hesitation. “Since the accident?”

She nodded.

“Baby, why didn’t you tell me?”

She shrugged. “I thought…it was no big deal. And I didn’t want to stop you from bringing me out at night if you wanted to.”

“No, Gabi,” I gave her hand a light squeeze. “You have to tell me these things, okay? I’m so sorry I didn’t notice.”

“Don’t be sorry,” she whispered. She paused for a slight moment. “I’m sorry about the match.”

I gave a small chuckle. “I’d almost forgotten about it after all your screaming.”

“Aww, so I should scream more?”

“No, screaming scares our babies.”

“Then what should I do to distract you?”

I puckered my lips. “Kiss me.”

She burst out in a fit of giggles, making my heart leap with joy. “Even in these situations, you can still be romantic.”

“Of course, baby. I’ll always be romantic for you.”

She stopped, grabbed my arm to turn me around, got on her tiptoes, and planted a soft kiss on my lips. “Distracted?” she murmured.

“Not enough,” I whispered.

She moved in for another kiss, this time longer, sweeter, harder. “Now?”

“Yes,” I moved to cup her cheek with my free hand. Her lips were so soft from her earlier tears. “I love your lips, baby.”

“You make everything better, Toni.”

“Really?” I asked, and she nodded. “Well, you make everything better for me, too.”

“Are you tired? I’m sorry for dragging you out. Let’s go home.” She turned around and started dragging Lennox the other way, which made him start panting heavily in confusion.

“It’s okay if you want to walk,” I stopped her. “I’m fine.”

She shook her head. “Let’s go. We can shower together,” she giggled.

“Really?” I turned around and started walking back in the direction of our home. “Together?”

“Yes, Toni,” I caught her rolling her eyes in the dim light.

I was so relieved that everything was alright, but again I chided myself for not noticing her fears earlier. So much time had already passed with her avoiding car headlights in fear, yet I knew only now.

But as that wave of relief washed through me, I remembered something else.

I hadn’t told her about how the talks with Bayern had almost broken down completely. They weren’t going to give me what I wanted. The interest from other clubs hadn’t swayed the board’s contract offers even the slightest.

I wasn’t going to be discontented over all the money I had. I wasn’t going to be ungrateful to the club for shaping me into the player I was. But I couldn’t help but feel that I’d been short-changed when I discovered my salary didn’t match up to other relatively more junior or new players at the club. On top of that, my requests weren’t getting through and the offers from other clubs were just so much more impressive.

I turned towards Gabi, who now had a smile on her face. “Gabi,” I called, wanting to gather enough courage to tell her what my plans were.

“Yeah?” she turned and smiled at me much more happily than before.

The childlike enthusiasm on her face put a strike over my plans immediately. How could I tell her I was leaving the club she’d been supporting for seventeen years? She loved Bayern so much. How could I tell her I was leaving? How could I tell her without her getting the impression that I was choosing money over her?

“What is it?” she stared at me expectantly.

“Nothing,” I said. “It can wait.”

She smiled at me again and took my hand gently in hers, our fingers intertwining perfectly. “Okay,” she whispered.

So I pushed all the serious thoughts to the back of my head just for that night – all the disappointment over the semi-final and the worry of informing Gabi about my impending move. I forgot all those temporarily to focus on my favourite distraction – Gabriele, my beloved wife.

Gabi’s POV

The season had already ended with Bayern winning the double just about a week ago. Toni, though, had been busy for some unknown reason, heading down to the training ground almost every afternoon to meet with his agent. He was being so mysterious about the whole contract thing.

I’d gone for another ultrasound by myself and heard from Dr. Gerber that the other twin was definitely a girl. I told Toni the news as we settled down to watch the Champions League final between Real and Atletico. He was going to leave for Brazil in a couple of days.

“Dr. Gerber said it’s a girl,” I handed him the ultrasound snapshot.

“Really?” he smiled at the black and white image. “That’s fantastic.”

“Have you thought of a name for the boy?”

“Gabi, you’re only six months along.”

“I know, but have you?”

“No, I haven’t.”

He sounded so anxious about something, but I couldn’t ask him about it because the match had started and he was staring at the TV again with that childlike, mouth-wide-open expression. I found it strange, because it wasn’t even his team. But I couldn’t be bothered too much, so I just sat in the giant cosy armchair, plugged in my headphones, turned on some soothing music, let myself drift and think of a proper boy name, and eventually closed my eyes and went off to dreamland.

I was awoken by Toni shaking me and yelling about something. Confused, I took off my headphones.

“They won!” he yelled.

“Who?” I asked groggily. “What? Won what?”

“The Champions League!”

I turned to the TV and saw the Real Madrid players celebrating. “So?”

“What do you mean ‘so?’ Gabi, they won! I’m going to join the European Champions!”

“What?” I jolted awake immediately, sitting upright on the armchair. “What did you say?”

The colour drained from his face immediately. He turned to the TV, and then back at me, desperately scrambling for words to say. “Um…”

“WHAT?” I screamed. “TONI, WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”


	15. One Secret Too Many

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song accompanying this chapter is Tongue Tied by Faber Drive.

Toni’s POV

“Gabi…” I started. “Gabi, I…I didn’t know how to tell you. Please listen to me, I’ll tell you everything, okay?”

She sat there clutching her belly, staring at me with her mouth wide open and her eyes with the deepest look of fear. “When were you planning to tell me?” she finally whispered.

“Soon, baby, I promise I was going to tell you. I just had to think of how to do it. The talks collapsed. I can’t stay here anymore.”

“You told me everything was okay!” she yelled. “You told me!”

“I’m sorry, Gabi,” I slid over on the couch so I was closer to her. “I didn’t want you to worry.”

“So you think this is better?” she demanded. “You chose to keep this from me? This entire thing? Do you know how much this affects  _me_? Or did you just think of yourself?”

“No, Gabi, please don’t be like this. Please don’t scream.”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, TONI!” she screamed. I reached over and grabbed her arm, but she shoved my hand aside and stood up to storm to the bedroom. “I can’t believe this! I trusted you, Toni. I trusted you when you said everything was okay.”

I stood up and hurried after her. “Gabi, please don’t run. Please calm down. The babies –“

“The babies?! As if you care about  _the babies_! What if you never thought of the right way to tell me? Were you just going to fly to Madrid and leave us here? Were you?”

“No, baby, please,” I followed her into the room. “Please listen to me.”

She sat down on the bed with her back facing me. She didn’t say a word, so I took that as my cue.

“I can’t stay at Bayern anymore. They won’t give me what I want.”

“What do you want?” her voice started trembling. I reached over to touch her shoulder, but she moved away.

“Gabi, they’re giving me so much more.”

“Money?” she whispered. “Is it money?”

“I need a change, Gabi. I’ve been here for practically my whole footballing life. I need to go somewhere else and try something new. Like…another stepping stone.”

“Another stepping stone?” she repeated. “So Real is a step  _up?_  Is that what you’re saying?”

“Gabi…”

“Is it the money?” she asked again.

I sighed. “Yes, I think what they’re offering me is much closer to what I deserve.”

She spun around and glared at me, a hint of disappointment in her eyes. “So it’s the money. Just admit it, Toni, it’s the money.”

“Gabi, if you would just look at what they’ve offered –“

“I don’t care!” she yelled. “They beat us…they beat us five-nil. And now…now you’re joining them. I can’t…I…”

“Baby,” I scrambled over the bed towards her as I realised her breaths were getting shallower. “Gabi, are you okay? Please calm down.”

“I love Bayern,” she sobbed. “I’ve loved Bayern all my life. I’ve loved you…all my life. And now…you’re going…leaving.” She turned and looked me in the eye. “You’ve already decided, haven’t you?” she whispered.

“Gabi, I –“

“Just answer me,” she snapped.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Yes, I have.”

She looked down and shook her head sadly. “And you never even told me. You never discussed it with me. Not even a single word.”

“I’m sorry. I really am. I’m so sorry, baby.”

“I don’t want your apology,” she said, frustrated.

“Then what do you want?” I asked, just a little frustrated myself. “Gabi, you’ve always told me you loved me not because I play for Bayern. So why are you being like this? Can you just…try to support my new team? And me?”

“Toni, I…what about Bayern? Does it mean  _nothing_  to you at all? Everything that you’ve done here, everything that you’ve achieved? Nothing at all?”

“That’s it, you see? That’s it. I’ve won everything that can possibly be won with Bayern. I need a change, Gabi. I need you to understand.”

“What about me? Us?”

“You’re all coming with me, of course.”

“But I want to stay here…in Munich,” she sobbed. “I can’t believe…you’re leaving Bayern.”

“Look, Gabi,” I sighed, trying not to lose my temper and failing. “You’ve always said that your feelings towards me had nothing to do with Bayern. So why are you reacting this way? Now it really seems like you’re just being with me because I play for your favourite team.”

She spun around and stared at me. “What?” she whispered.

“Gabi, all I’m asking is for you to try,” I pleaded. “Please, let’s move to Madrid. Let’s start afresh over there.”

“What did you say? About me being with you.”

“Please just…” I sighed. I couldn’t do this anymore. All my thoughts were so jumbled up. “All I’m asking is for you to not be so selfish, okay? Just think of me for once, instead of yourself!”

Her mouth fell open and tears started falling out of her eyes. “That’s what you think of me?” she whispered. “That I love you because you’re a Bayern player? That I’m a gold-digger? That I’m  _selfish?_ ”

“Well, that’s how you’re acting right now, like a spoiled baby!” I blurted out.

The look of horror on her face turned into one of hurt. She looked as if someone had just slashed her with a knife. “Get out,” she muttered.

“Gabi, please think about it.”

“GET OUT!” she shrieked, clutching at her stomach and panting. “GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE ROOM, TONI!”

“Please don’t yell,” I reached over to grab her and calm her down. “Are you okay? Please calm down, Gabi, please.”

“Don’t touch me!” she screamed. “Get out! GET OUT NOW! I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOU!”

She was clutching at her chest and breathing heavily, so I tried to reach her and calm her down, but she picked up the pillows and flung them at me one by one, pushing me further and further from her until I reached the door and backed out of it. She stood up, walked unsteadily to the door, and slammed it in my face so hard that I was almost knocked over backwards.

“Gabi,” suddenly realising what I’d done, I tried the door, but it was locked, so I knocked on it desperately. “Please don’t be like this. I’m sorry, baby. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said all those things.”

“Go away!”

“I love you, baby. I’m so sorry.”

“Shut the fuck up, Toni! Leave me alone!”

I sat down on the floor, leaned against the second floor barricade, and buried my head in my knees. I couldn’t believe I’d just shot my mouth off like that. It was obviously more of my fault than it was hers, seeing how I didn’t tell her anything about the move in the first place.

But still, it took two hands to clap. Why couldn’t she understand? I needed her support. I needed her to support me like how she always did, like how she’d always been supporting me for the past few years. And she was just being so selfish and only thinking of staying here in her own hometown. I always chose to believe that what we had together had nothing to do with the fact that I played for Bayern, but on that day she was acting otherwise.

After a period of brooding, I got up and tried the door, but again it didn’t open. I put my ear close to it and heard Gabi sobbing.

“Gabi, baby,” I knocked on the door. “Please don’t cry. I’m sorry. I should have told you.”

The sobbing stopped, and the door opened a few moments later. Gabi was on the other side, her hair matted with tears and sweat and plastered all over her face. She stormed past me, down the stairs and out the front door, leading me to chase after her.

I followed her across the road, where she took out a key and opened the front door to her family’s place. Before I could follow her into the house, she slammed the door in my face again. Moments later, the light in her room turned on.

I rushed to the old pipe and started climbing up, only to hear her slam the window shut and draw the curtains closed.

I slid back down to the ground. “Gabi!” I yelled. “Please, I’m so sorry.”

The lights in her room turned off and there was no further movement.

Suddenly, the front door opened, and I rushed there expectantly only to have Amelie pop her head out curiously. “What happened?” she asked.

“Oh, Amelie,” I sighed. “She’s so mad at me.”

“What did you do? Come in and talk to us.”

She dragged me to the living room, where her parents were sat looking thoroughly confused. “What happened?” Mr. Meiser echoed Amelie’s question.

“I screwed up,” I sat down on the couch and buried my face in my hands. “I screwed up so badly.”

“How?” Amelie asked.

“I called her selfish, and a spoiled baby, and I said all the things that I never meant to say because I would never mean those words, and I was just so confused and now she’s so angry with me.”

“What made you say those things?” Amelie asked again, this time her look laced with disapproval.

“Well, I’m moving to Madrid –“

“You’re moving to Madrid?!” Mr. and Mrs. Meiser exclaimed in unison, making me cringe. They sounded so much like Gabi did earlier.

“When?” her dad asked. “I’ve never heard her talk about it.”

“That’s because I haven’t told her. I was trying to find a way to tell her, and you know with the babies and stuff…I didn’t want her to worry. I wanted to find the best way to tell her, but I shot my mouth off and I blurted it out and…she overreacted. She screamed at me saying that she couldn’t believe I was leaving Bayern, so I tried to tell her that I needed her support, but I ended up saying all those horrible things that I didn’t mean!”

“Oh, Toni,” Mrs. Meiser sighed. “You should have discussed it with her.”

“Yeah!” Amelie almost yelled, and her parents signalled for her to keep it down. “Toni, what the hell? You want her to move to a completely different country, and you only tell her _now_? I mean…when are you leaving for Brazil?”

“Uh…in four days.”

“See?!” Amelie shrieked. “See the point? What if you never found a way to tell her? Were you going to leave for Brazil and then tell the media there and let her find out  _through the media_?”

“I –“ I started, but then it suddenly dawned on me. I was going to leave for the World Cup. Even if she was going along, we wouldn’t get to spend much time together. And I would get less and less chances to tell her, until the day I really had to leave for Madrid, and she still wouldn’t have known.

And she was my wife. My  _wife_. How could I have not discussed it with her? I shouldn’t have done it all on my own and come up with a decision on my own. I should have taken her opinion and her feelings into account instead of assuming that she would be totally fine with moving to Spain.

“Oh,” I whispered.

“She’s your wife, Toni!” Amelie continued. “Jesus! Even I feel hurt!”

“Stop screaming, Amelie,” Mr. Meiser rolled his eyes. “Real Madrid?” he smiled sadly at me as I nodded. “That’s good. We’ll miss you.”

I didn’t dare to ask him whether he meant that Bayern would miss me or that his family would miss me, so I just smiled back politely.

“Gabi’s pregnant, Toni,” Mrs. Meiser said. “You can’t blame her for overreacting. She’s worried that you’ll leave her. It’s all the hormones.”

“I’m so sorry,” I mumbled.

“Say that to her,” she smiled at me encouragingly. “I’m sure she’ll understand. Just talk to her nicely, and try not to make her angry again.”

They managed to persuade me to go upstairs and talk to Gabi, so I did. I walked up the stairs and stood hesitantly at her door, which was closed.

“Gabi,” I called, putting my face close to the door and knocking on it. “Baby, can I talk to you? Please? I’m so sorry.”

There wasn’t a single whisper of sound coming from the other side. I looked up and saw Amelie standing at the end of the hallway with her arms crossed. She walked over to me slowly.

“Need this?” she held out a key. “We used to do this when she was a kid and threw tantrums and hid in her room for three days in a row.”

She unlocked the door to Gabi’s room and swung the door open gently, revealing Gabi lying on her side, above the sheets, facing the window. She didn’t move a muscle.

“Good luck,” Amelie whispered as she pushed me into the room and closed the door behind me.

I tiptoed over to her bed and sat down gently, not wanting to disturb her. Her eyes were closed, but her eyebrows were furrowed, as if she’d fallen asleep while thinking deeply about something.

I reached over and stroked her hair softly. It was still damp from earlier. She didn’t even twitch slightly as I tucked it behind her ear.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, not entirely sure if she was really asleep or if she was pretending to be so that she didn’t have to talk to me. “I didn’t mean those words. I really didn’t. I’m so sorry, baby. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I should have let you know and I should have discussed this with you.”

Gabi’s POV

“I know this is a huge thing for you,” Toni continued whispering although my eyes were closed. “I’m sorry I never realised how much you would be affected by it. I’m sorry I assumed that you would be fine with it. It was very selfish of me. I hope you’ll understand. I’m sorry I have to leave Bayern. But this place will always be special to me, because it’s where I met you. I’m sorry, baby. They’re just much, much more convincing than Bayern are. I need a new start. I need to win something that I’ve never won before. And your support means the world to me.”

He leaned over and planted a soft kiss on my temple.

“I don’t know if you’re asleep,” he continued. “But if you’re not, I hope you’ll think about this. I love you so much, Gabriele. I love you so much. And I’m so, so sorry.”

He gave me another kiss, this time on my cheek, and then another on my hand. And then he stood up, and I thought he was going to leave, but he left the door wide open as he went to get something.

Minutes later, he came back with two extra pillows. Gently, he slid one under my pregnant belly for support before slipping the other one between my arms. And then, so as to not disturb me, he wrapped my sheets around me instead of trying to put them over me. With another soft kiss on the temple and a gentle whisper of ‘good night,’ he closed the door and everything was quiet once again.

I heard him speaking to Amelie outside my room, but a few minutes later his voice faded and it went silent. I felt a fierce pang of loneliness as I heard the front door close, and I found myself wishing that he’d climbed in bed behind me.

I hugged the pillow that he’d given me tightly, pressing my face into it and letting the tears flow once again. I trusted that man with all my life. He was my  _husband_ , for God’s sake. And he’d kept such a big secret from me. I felt so betrayed.

And those words that he’d uttered – were they truly just in a fit of anger? Or did he already have all those thoughts within him and he just didn’t say them out loud? Was that all I was to him? A fangirl who just had the stroke of luck to become a WAG?

But it couldn’t be. It just  _couldn’t be._  Anyone else could say that about me, but he wouldn’t. Toni wouldn’t. Because I knew he loved me, and I knew he cared for me, and I wasn’t just a toy to him. After all these years of ups and downs, after all the sweet words that he said to me, after all the waiting he’d done – it just couldn’t be.

My thoughts came back to the main problem – moving to Madrid. I couldn’t believe that he’d only told me that less than a week before he was leaving for Brazil. How was I supposed to handle it? Was I supposed to just smile and say ‘sure baby, let’s leave all that we’ve built here in Munich, my family and job, let’s just drop everything and fly off to sunny Spain?’ And what about our babies? I wasn’t ready for this. I wasn’t.

He was a footballer. That’s what he  _did for a living._  Fly around the world and play wherever he was supposed to. But I wasn’t. I was just a normal girl married to a footballer. I wasn’t used to these things. I didn’t mind when he did, as long as he came back to me. But I couldn’t do it myself. I couldn’t just turn my life around like that.

I flipped around to face the familiar ceiling, remembering all the nights I’d spent staring right up at it and thinking of how Toni and I were going to build our happy future together. Those plans definitely didn’t turn out to be how I’d thought them out to be. Getting pregnant with these two babies wasn’t in the plan, for sure.

I sat up on the bed and tucked one of the extra pillows below my legs. Gently, I put my hands on my belly and stroked it.

“Sorry, babies,” I whispered. “Did mummy scare you? Mummy isn’t usually like that. I’m sorry. Don’t be scared, okay? Mummy loves you so much. Don’t be scared, darlings. Don’t be scared, Mia…can I still call you Mia?”

I leaned my head back on the wall, tears falling down my face again as I realised why Toni had reacted the way he did when I asked about naming the girl Mia. Maybe I should have asked. Maybe I should have been more concerned about his career. After all, it was his proudest achievement.

Was it my fault, too? I caressed my belly gently. I’d been so distracted by the two lives growing inside of me. I’d been so cranky because of them, too. And I realised that was probably why Toni hadn’t told me all about his negotiations.

As I sat there pondering all the possibilities, my wedding vows to him suddenly popped up in my mind again.

_“I promise to uphold your career and your ambitions, to respect your every choice, and to be your number one fan. I promise to never stand in the way of wherever your life may take you, and to be by your side to love and support you always.”_

I fiddled with the wedding ring on my finger. I’d promised him that, but what had I just done? I’d broken my promises just barely two months after making them. I felt horrible. The precious boy had done so much for me, and there I was, going back on my word.

He’d admitted it was because of the money. That had been the most disappointing part, but then again, why  _wouldn’t_  he leave for more money and a fresh start? We were going to have twins. I wasn’t going to be materialistic, but more money would definitely mean we would be more able to give our children every single thing that they needed and wanted.

Maybe I could do this. Maybe it wouldn’t be so difficult after all, even though I had to leave my favourite team and my hometown, as long as I had Toni by my side. And of course I’d forgive him, because I loved him so much and I couldn’t imagine my life without him. Maybe I could do this, I could do this for Toni.

“Oh, babies,” I sighed. “Am I wrong? Is daddy right to be angry with me? Mummy has been taking care of you two and neglecting him.”

As if in response, I felt a kick from within.

“Aww, you think mummy should go apologise?” I smiled, tears still falling steadily out of my eyes.

Another kick, this time from the other side.  _Both_  of them were listening to me.

I started laughing. “So feisty, you two,” I whispered. “You make mummy so happy, you know that?”

Before I’d known it, I’d spent the entire night talking to them and telling them stories about me and Toni. It felt wonderful to talk about Toni. I loved that boy so much. He was still a boy to me, even though he was going to be a father soon.

In the morning, I got out of bed and went back over to the other side, opening the door softly so he wouldn’t know I was there. Thankfully, the shower was running, so I was able to make a clean escape. Changing into clean clothes, I hooked Julius and Lennox to their leashes, took the car, and brought them to the groomers’, where they were due for an appointment that Toni and I were supposed to bring them to together.

While waiting, I finally made a decision. I didn’t know if staying up the entire night had a role to play in the haze my brain seemed to be in, but at the time, after all my thinking, it seemed like a good idea. I started the engine again and went back to the office where I was working.

It was a Sunday, so there was barely anybody there except for the few people who were working on their own projects. I sat down at my table, typed out a short, concise resignation letter, and sent it to the HR department.

Afterwards, I packed up what little things I had on my desk into a box and carried it to the car, driving to fetch Julius and Lennox before heading home again.

Toni’s POV

I came out of the shower to find Julius and Lennox gone, and the car missing.

I rushed over to the Meisers’, where they told me that they hadn’t noticed Gabi leaving. Upon checking her room, we found that her sheets were nicely made and she wasn’t there. I called her, but her phone started chiming from her bedside table, forgotten by her – wherever she had gone.

I went back to my place and paced around the house nervously, not sure if she was just out at the groomers’ or if she’d run away for good. I wanted to hit myself for not staying with her the night before in her room. How could I have left her?

Finally, after a little more than an hour, Gabi pulled up in the car with Julius and Lennox in the backseat, looking smart and well-groomed. She got out of the car and pulled them along as I gaped at them from the front door.

“Gabi,” I called, my voice trembling. “Where have you been?”

She was silent as she undid the dogs’ leashes and hung them up. She watched them run happily back to their little dog corner before she turned to me with just the slightest smile on her face.

We stared at each other as we stood quietly in the doorway. She looked pale and her eyes were puffy. The silence dragged on for a few minutes before she decided to open her mouth to say something.

Except that she didn’t make it.

Her mouth opened slightly, but not a word managed to come out of it before her eyes closed and she started swaying to her side.

And then she collapsed. Gabi collapsed into my arms, unconscious.


	16. Forgive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song accompanying this chapter is Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love by Coldplay.

Toni’s POV

“Gabi!” I put her on the ground gently. “Gabi, what’s wrong? Please wake up.”

I placed the back of my hand on her head – she was a little feverish. I swept her hair out of her face and planted my lips softly on her head. “Baby, I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “I love you so much. Please be okay, Gabi. I love you.”

Not knowing how to carry her to the car without the risk of dropping her, I fished out my phone and dialled for an ambulance before calling Amelie and telling her what happened. Seconds later, she barged in the front door and fell to the floor beside me.

“What happened?” she panted.

“She fainted,” my voice quivered as I held Gabi close to me. “I don’t know. She came back with the dogs and she fainted.”

“Oh, Toni,” she sighed. “At least she’s home.”

When the ambulance arrived, I got into it with Gabi, telling Amelie to wait at home for any news. Fortunately, it took almost no time at all to reach the hospital. I paced around outside the room nervously as the doctor did some checks on Gabi.

Finally, he re-emerged with a slightly relieved look on his face. I rushed up to him and grabbed him by the arm, surprising him. “How is she?”

“Are you family?” he asked.

“I’m her husband.”

“Oh, she’s fine. Just needs a little rest, that’s all. We’ll need her to stay for one night and she can leave tomorrow morning.”

“Are the babies okay?” I asked.

He smiled warmly. “The babies are perfectly fine.”

“Oh, my God,” I sighed in relief. “Thank you so much.”

“Gabriele is just tired,” he continued. “She fainted because of fatigue. She’s asleep now, but you can go in and see her. Please take care of her. Don’t agitate her.”

I thanked him again as he left. Stepping into the room, I was greeted by a familiar sight – Gabi lying on a hospital bed. Déjà vu rammed into me like a reckless defender. I ran across the room and to her bedside, sitting down and grabbing her hand.

“Gabi, baby,” I called, the lump in my throat suddenly being released as tears. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. Please…please be okay. I love you so much. Please rest well…okay? You said you’d go to Brazil to watch me play. How can I let you go like this? I’m so sorry. We don’t have to talk about Madrid, okay? It can wait. Everything can wait. I love you, Gabriele. I’m so sorry.”

I put my lips to her hand in an attempt to stop my sobs as I remembered Dr. Gerber’s exact words:  _“She looks like she might turn out to be high-risk for post-natal depression.”_ And there I was, stressing her out and making her so furious. I couldn’t possibly be more stupid.

After sitting for a few minutes, staring at her sleeping figure and silently praying that she would be fine, I stood up to give her a kiss on her head, wiping away my own tears and those that had fallen off onto her face in the process. Quietly, I let myself out of the room and called Amelie.

“Is she okay? Is anything wrong with her?” her shrill voice invaded my ears once she answered.

“She’s fine,” I informed her. “Just fatigue.”

“Oh, that’s good,” she sighed in relief. “I think she didn’t sleep the entire of yesterday night.”

“Really?” I sat down on one of the chairs in the corridor. “How do you know?”

“I heard her talking to someone. I don’t know who she was talking to.”

“Probably one of her friends,” I leaned back against the wall. “Thanks, Amelie. Sorry about this morning.”

“It’s okay. Take care of her. Love you.”

My phone started ringing again just as I hung up. Checking the number, I was quite surprised to see that it was Louise calling from London.

“Hey!” she shrieked.  _Oh, God, how many shrill voices do I have to deal with today?_

“Hi, Louise.”

“What happened to Gabi?”

“Gabi?” I wrinkled my brow in confusion. “Who told you she’s in hospital?”

“SHE’S IN HOSPITAL?!” she screeched, leading me to pull the phone away from my ear.

“Well…I assumed that was what you were talking about.”

“No! I wanted to ask you about why she quit her job. I called the German office to ask for their World Cup team and if Gabi was in it, and they told me that she quit this morning. Said she was moving away from Germany. They really want to keep her, and they really need her for the World Cup, but they can’t because of the rules in her contract.”

“She quit her job?!” I stood up and paced a path down the corridor. “I didn’t know about that! She’s been pissed with me since yesterday night.”

“Is that why she’s in hospital?”

“Partly, yes.”

“Why is she pissed with you?”

“I told her I was moving…to somewhere,” I said, not wanting to give away too much.

“Oh, my God!” she yelled. “So the rumours are true.”

“Louise, please don’t write about this. It isn’t final yet. I’ll see after the World Cup.”

She paused for a long moment, as if the model journalist wheels in her head were spinning furiously. “But everyone is already talking about it.”

“Louise! This is a personal conversation, not an interview.”

“Ugh, fine!” she groaned. “Don’t ‘Louise’ me!”

“Thank you,” I said, genuinely thankful. “And thanks for telling me Gabi quit her job.”

“Don’t piss her off again, mister. I’ll bring you down.”

“How?” I teased.

“I’m a journalist,” she said matter-of-factly, as if it was all self-explanatory. Then she hung up the phone.

I rolled my eyes at the dial tone and went back into the room to sit by Gabi’s side.

So she  _was_  going to Madrid with me. Why didn’t she tell me? Why did she have to go and do all those things by herself? Had she really forgiven me? Or was she still angry?

I clasped her arm in my hands and leaned on the side of her bed, all those thoughts running through my mind. I closed my eyes, all the events of the day suddenly taking its toll on me, and fell asleep in the scent of Gabriele.

Gabi’s POV

I woke up feeling groggy, confused, and still tired. The surroundings were unfamiliar, but upon a few blinks of the eye and a closer look, I realised I was in hospital.

_Wait, hospital? No, I’m only six months along! Why am I in hospital?_

I frantically moved my hands to my belly, but only my left hand moved. Thankfully, the twins were still there. Safe inside me.

Looking to my right, I saw Toni, his head buried in the side of my blanket. His hands grasped my arm and his cheek was pressed on it, like it was a teddy bear and he was a five-year-old boy. A choking sob escaped my smiling lips as I reached over with my left hand and ran it through his hair.

He stirred, lifting his head slightly and looking around, seemingly also losing track of where he was. He froze when he realised that my hand was still in his hair, and his gaze whipped around to my face.

“Hey,” I whispered.

“Hey,” he whispered back, staring at me warily, analysing the look on my face. Suddenly, he reached over and pulled me up into a sitting position so he could hug me tightly. “Oh, Gabi, I was so worried.”

“What did I do?” I smiled, taking in his wonderful, familiar scent. “Did I run in front of a car again?”

“No,” he sobbed. “You were so angry with me, and you ran away, and you fainted, and oh, Gabi. I’ve never seen you so angry before.”

“I’ve never been so angry before,” I whispered.

He wiped his tears hastily and pulled away so he could see my face. “Are you still angry with me?”

“A little bit.”

“How little?”

“As little as you discussed with me about this entire thing.”

He cringed upon hearing that, squeezing his eyes shut and grabbing my hand extra tightly. “I’m so sorry, Gabi.”

“When are you going to sign the contract?” I asked.

He looked back up at me with an apprehensive gaze. “Uh…after the World Cup. If they still want me. Nothing’s confirmed, Gabi. I –“

“Shhh,” I interrupted, wiping off the remainder of his tears with my fingers. “I’m going with you.”

“Really?” his eyes lit up like a puppy’s, as if he was delighted to hear those words coming from my mouth.

“I quit my job,” I said.

“I know,” he smiled. “Louise called and yelled at me.”

I burst out laughing at the eager look on his face. “I’ll let her know she’s not supposed to yell at my husband.”

“So…” he played with his fingers nervously. “You…aren’t angry with me anymore?”

I shrugged. “I should’ve asked you. I was too concerned about myself and the babies.”

“Oh, Gabi,” he said, relieved, reaching over and hugging me again. “I’m so sorry.”

“We’re both wrong, okay?” I said into the crook of his neck. “I’m sorry, too. I promised you on our wedding day that I’d stay by your side and support you. I’m sorry I was so angry when you told me. I should’ve listened to you. I’m sorry, Toni.”

“I love you so much.”

“I love you too, baby,” I sighed, leaning my cheek on his shoulder. ”Don’t let go of me or I’ll fall backwards.”

He laughed and wound up the bed so I could lean on it. Then he released me and beamed at me happily. “Thank you, Gabi.”

“Did you mean all those things you said?” I asked, suddenly remembering.

“No, baby, I didn’t,” he reached over and cupped my cheek with his hand. “I’m so, so sorry. I don’t know what made me say those things. I didn’t mean them. Not even a single word.”

“But it’s true, right?” I felt tears prick my eyes. “I was being so selfish.”

“You were just concerned about our babies. I understand. I’m sorry. I just…got so confused, and I was so frightened by your yelling, and…oh, Gabi. I thought you were going to leave me.”

“But I’d never leave you,” I sobbed. “I love you so much.”

“I know, baby, I love you too. I’ll never say anything I don’t mean ever again, okay?”

“So you don’t think that I’m being with you because you play for my favourite team?”

“No, Gabi,” he reached over and wrapped his arms around me. “I don’t. I really, really don’t.”

“I love you, Toni. Please…let’s please not keep anything from each other anymore.”

“I love you, too,” he whispered. “And I won’t. I promise. Shhh, stop crying. Happy mummy, happy babies, remember?”

“Oh, Toni,” I choked. “We’re going to have exotic babies.”

He burst out laughing in my ear. “Tropical exotic babies.”

“Can we still name her Mia?” I asked.

He paused for a long moment. It felt like eons had passed, and I thought he was going to say no.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to name her Mia,” I whispered.

“Did you know,” he began, softly and gently, his hands stroking my back. “That in Spanish, ‘mía’ means ‘mine?’”

That piece of information only made me burst into tears again. “Really?” I sobbed. “It does?”

“It does, baby.”

“So we can name her Mia?”

“Of course,” he kissed the side of my neck. “She’s ours.”

“Have you been secretly learning Spanish?”

He laughed. “A little bit.”

I smacked him gently so he knew I was joking. “You should have told me! Then we can learn together.”

“I’m not too far ahead, the only Spanish word I know is our daughter’s name.”

I giggled. “Hear that, Mia?” I whispered.

“Have you thought of a name for the boy?” Toni asked.

“I was trying to, until you yelled at me to wake up because the team I didn’t know you were going to play for had just won the Champions League.”

“Gabi!”

“I’m kidding, baby,” I ruffled his hair. “I haven’t thought of a name.”

“What about Johann?”

“Johann?” I asked. “Does that mean something in Spanish?”

“No,” he looked at me like I was crazy. “I just like the name.”

“Okay,” I grinned. “Johann, then.”

“Mia and Johann,” he beamed and reached over to pat my tummy. “Perfect.”

“Thank you, Toni,” I grabbed his hand and held it tightly.

“For what?” he smiled lovingly. “For pissing you off?”

“For everything,” I pulled him closer so I could kiss him. “Including pissing me off.”

He smiled against my lips. “I love you so, so, so much, Gabriele.”

“I love you more, baby,” I whispered, and then we had to pull apart because the nurse knocked on the door and entered with a very bland-looking dinner.

I stared at the tray in dismay. “That’s for dinner?” I asked Toni when the nurse had left.

“It appears so,” he said thoughtfully.

“But that won’t make the babies happy,” I whined.

He stared at me in horror, as if that was the worst thing he’d ever heard. “Really?” he asked, standing up eagerly. “What do you want to eat? I’ll get it for you.”

“A cheeseburger,” I licked my lips. “With lots of onions.”

“Onions?” he wrinkled his nose in disgust. “But how am I going to kiss you after that?”

I giggled. “You say that now, but later you won’t be able to resist.”

“You know me so well, baby,” he leaned over and kissed my head before turning to leave. “I’ll be back in a few minutes!”

While waiting, I decided to at least try some of the hospital meal, so took a spoonful of the soup that was on the tray. It tasted like salty water, so I threw the spoon back in the bowl in disgust.

I sat on the bed in a daze, thinking of whatever that had just happened with Toni. It was done. We were going to Madrid after the World Cup.

But everything was fine. Everything would be fine as long as I had Toni. I rested my palms on my belly. Everything would be fine as long as I had Johann and Mia.

“You two were right,” I whispered to them. “Mummy was wrong, too. Now everything is okay, see? And you’re going to get your cheeseburger soon, okay?”

Just then, the face of the light of my life appeared in the small rectangular window in the door. He beamed proudly at me and raised his hands, which were holding two burgers. I sat up eagerly as he brought the burgers to me.

“One for each of them,” he said, putting them both on my protruding belly. They were still warm.

I picked them up. They smelled wonderful. “Say thank you to daddy,” I whispered before turning to Toni. “They’re asking me to give you a biiiiiiiiig kiss,” I told him.

He burst out laughing, leaning forward and planting his lips gently on mine. “Big enough?” he asked, and I shook my head. He moved in again, this time for a huge, wet, sticky kiss. “How about now?”

“Yes,” I giggled, unwrapping the burgers and digging in.

Toni’s POV

I sat with a paper towel in my hand as Gabi gobbled up the burgers in minutes, the onion sauce dripping down her chin like she was a child. I had to constantly reach over and wipe her face clean.

She gave a loud burp when she was done, and a satisfied sigh as she leaned back on the inclined bed. “Thank you, baby. They were delicious.”

I smiled. She was so adorable. “Tired?” I asked. She nodded and yawned unglamorously, so I declined her bed back down and fluffed up her pillows. “Night, baby,” I gave her a kiss on her head.

“Are you going?” she mumbled. “Don’t leave me.”

“I won’t,” I whispered, sitting down and holding her hand. “I’ll always be here.”

Suddenly, she moved over so there was a human-sized space beside her. “Sleep with me.”

“Gabi, I can’t. I’ll get scolded.”

“I don’t care,” she whined, gazing at me with her huge blue puppy eyes.

I shook my head at her. What was I ever going to do with my precious wife? She was so annoyingly cute. Rendered completely helpless by her childishness, I climbed in beside her and let her use my arm as a pillow. Her hand rested protectively over my chest again. “Who were you talking to last night?” I asked.

“Johann and Mia,” she said sleepily, gazing up at me with her eyes half-closed.

“Really?” I laughed. “About what?”

“You,” she whispered almost inaudibly, a slight smile on her face, like she was entertained by an inside joke only she and the babies knew.

I couldn’t help but reflect her peaceful smile. “Sleep, baby,” I told her.

“Sing to me,” she ordered.

I sighed. “Okay, okay. Close your eyes first.”

She closed her eyes with a big grin on her face. Cradling her head once again, I sang a lullaby to her, and she fell asleep in no time, trapping me underneath her and unable to escape the nurse’s disapproving gaze when she popped into the room a few hours later to check on Gabi.

“Mr. Kroos, what are you doing?” she whispered fiercely.

I shrugged as gently as I could. “She wanted me to lie with her.”

“What if she falls off the bed?”

I pointed to my eyes, and then at Gabi.

She rolled her eyes playfully and gave me an ‘ok’ sign with her fingers. Taking out her equipment from a small bag, she proceeded to take Gabi’s temperature and blood pressure.

“Don’t wake her up,” I whispered. “She’ll get cranky.”

She burst out laughing, and then clasped her hands over her mouth. “Sorry,” she whispered. “You remind me of my parents.”

I smiled at her as she finished up her duties, gave me a thumbs up to signify that everything was alright with Gabi, and then dimmed the lights further and left the room quietly.

I stayed awake for a long time, not so much because I was worried about Gabi falling over as I was overjoyed that she’d forgiven me. It was almost the biggest mistake of my life. I was glad we worked it out. And I was never going to make the same mistake again.

I gazed back down at her again, at her messy brown hair and her tired, closed eyes. How was I going to let her fly to Brazil? It was such a long flight, and there were so many more flights she had to take when she was there in order to watch all my matches. Even though I’d really need her support, it was more important that she and the babies were safe.

As I was deep in thought about all the different possibilities, Gabi suddenly stirred, wrapping her arms tightly around my torso.

“Toni,” she whispered, half-asleep.

“Yes, baby?”

“I’m sorry. I love you so much.”

I couldn’t help but smile as I swept my lips across her forehead. Suddenly, everything else didn’t matter. As long as I had Gabi and our children safe and healthy in my arms, nothing else would ever matter as much.

Gently, I tilted her head so she was in a more comfortable position on my chest.

“I love you too, Gabriele,” I whispered.


	17. First-Class Husband

Toni’s POV

“Awwwww, look at them,” a female voice purred, waking me up from my restless slumber. “Such a cute couple.”

“Shhhh, Amelie,” another female voice warned.

I opened my eyes only to see Gabi’s parents and Amelie standing in a line on my side of the hospital bed, gazing at us lovingly.

“Hi,” I whispered. My left arm was numb, having supported Gabi’s head and neck all night long.

“Morning, Toni,” Mr. Meiser beamed. “How is Gabi?”

“Umm…” I squirmed uncomfortably. I was groggy and confused and I couldn’t feel my arm. “Can you hold her? I need to move my arm.”

He went over to Gabi’s side and supported her head while I got myself out from underneath her. Gently, he shifted her towards the centre of her bed. However, as I was trying to make way, I found that she was grasping tightly onto my arm.

“Aww, she doesn’t want to let you go!” Amelie said lovingly.

I smiled a little shyly at her, not knowing how to respond to her excited narration of me and Gabi. I wrung my free arm around, desperately trying to solve the numbness. “The doctor said she can leave today,” I told them. “She was just tired.”

“That’s great,” Mrs. Meiser said. “I hope everything’s fine between you two.”

“Of course they are!” Amelie gushed. “Look at her grabbing his arm!”

Her shrill voice woke Gabi, and she opened her eyes, confused. “Why are there so many people?” she grumbled.

All of us immediately went silent as she closed her eyes again and went back to sleep, snoring peacefully – and still trapping my arm in her hands. Gently, I pried her fingers apart and freed myself before signalling for her family to talk outside.

“She should be able to leave in an hour or so,” I told them when the door was closed. “I’ll wake her up soon.”

“How’s the Madrid talk?” Mr. Meiser asked.

I smiled wearily. “She’s fine with it.”

“Congratulations, Toni,” he said, although I could tell it was a little half-heartedly.

“Thank you,” I said. “We’ll be coming back here, I guess. For the break before the season starts.”

Just then, the nurse from the previous night appeared down the corridor and approached us. “Is she awake?” she asked.

“No, is she supposed to leave now?”

“She can leave now, would a family member take care of the paperwork at the reception?”

I went back into the room as Gabi’s family went to the counter. Gently, I sat down beside Gabi and pushed her hair out of her face.

“Gabi, baby,” I called. “Time to wake up.”

She grunted and turned over to her other side.

“Gabi, let’s go home.”

“Home?” she mumbled sleepily. “Where am I?”

“In hospital, baby. Let’s go home, okay? You can watch me pack.”

“Pack for what?” her eyes shot open and she turned around to stare at me warily.

“Brazil, remember? The World Cup.”

“Oh,” she whispered, shaking her head to clear the haze. “I thought…you…never mind.”

I leaned over and kissed her gently on the top of her head. “I’m never going to leave you, Gabi.”

She smiled shyly at that statement. I combed through her hair with my fingers as well as I could before taking out fresh clothes from the bag her family had brought. I helped her to the bathroom and helped her to change her clothes before her family returned.

When we were all home, safe and sound, Gabi’s family left to do their own things and left the both of us alone. As I was packing a suitcase for the flight to Brazil in a few days, Gabi suddenly asked, “Do you think I can still go over to watch you?”

Hesitantly, I went over to her and sat on the empty space next to her on the bed. “Gabi, I think you should stay here and rest.”

Her face fell. “Why? I want to watch you.”

“You can watch me on TV, baby. The flight is so long, and we’re playing in so many different cities and you have to fly so many times. It’s not good for you three.”

“But I’ll miss you.”

“We won’t get to spend time together anyway, because of the schedule.”

She sat there gazing forlornly at the ground for a few minutes as I watched her, waiting for her response. I felt so bad for not letting her do what she wanted, but it was all for her own good, even though she didn’t see it.

“Can I at least watch one match? Live?”

“Which one?”

“If you get to the semi-final or final?”

I thought about that for a while before answering. “But Gabi, you’ll exceed 30 weeks and you’ll need some paperwork.”

“Dr. Gerber can help me,” she replied. “Please?”

I sighed in resignation. “Okay, Gabi. Please, please take care.”

“I will,” she beamed, relieved, contrasting my emotions. “Don’t worry about me, okay? Play super well and get to the final, and I’ll be there.”

“Okay, baby,” I reached over and pulled her into a hug. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” she smiled against the side of my neck, then sighed. “I wish I could watch the entire thing.”

“It’s fine, Gabi. There are still other opportunities in the future. Just take care of yourself and the babies, okay? Promise?”

“Promise,” she whispered.

Gabi’s POV

“Is everything okay?” I asked Dr. Gerber as I attended the sonography session myself.

She beamed. “Fine, as usual.”

“Um…so can I fly to Brazil?”

Toni had been gone for almost a month. I missed him more every day, even though he called me whenever he could. Usually, it was while the team was allowed time to hang out with their families, if they were there. I hated to leave him so soon after our big fight, but there was nothing else I could do. Besides, I believed that we would always be okay.

“So eager to see your husband, I see,” she laughed. “How do you plan to get there?”

“I was thinking I could fly to Lisbon and take another flight from there,” I explained. “It would take three hours and then ten hours.”

“That’s better, then you won’t have to sit for so long.”

“And I’m trying to make it there for the semi-final, so I’ll need to fly to Rio if they make it to the final, or to Brasilia for the third-place. They’re both one hour.”

She picked up the calendar sitting on her table. “You’ll be over thirty weeks by the time you fly back. I’ll need to write a clearance letter for you.”

“Really, you can?”

“Of course,” she smiled kindly. “You’re fit to travel. Very little chance of premature delivery.”

“Um…Toni said I can get first-class,” I said hesitantly.

“More leg room!” she exclaimed, clapping happily. “Your husband spoils you, Mrs. Kroos.”

I giggled. “I know,” I whispered shyly.

“It’s good, really good,” she put the calendar back down. “Remember to drink a lot of water, don’t hold your pee in, and put your legs up when you’re seated. You might feel light-headed because of the low pressure, so you should try lying down. When will you be leaving?”

“The match is in two days, so I’ll try to leave tomorrow. I’m taking my sister with me.”

“Great, great,” she beamed. “Have fun there! You’re done for today, I’ll write the clearance letter for you and another letter with my personal emergency number for if you need it. If you see any doctor while you’re there, they can come to me for medical records.”

I thanked her and waited outside, not being able to wipe the smile off my face. I’d heard from Toni just yesterday, and I didn’t know if I was going to hear from him again before flying. Nonetheless, I didn’t try to call him because I didn’t want to distract him.

I took a taxi home when I was done and sat down as Amelie helped me pack. I took out my phone and sent Toni a voice message.

“Hey, baby,” I said, still grinning. “Dr. Gerber wrote me a clearance letter. I’ll be there for the match against Brazil. I’ll see you there, okay? I hope you’re having fun. I’ll see you soon. Take care. I love you so much.”

Amelie plopped down beside me when she was done. “I’m so excited!” she exclaimed.

“Really? But you don’t even watch football. Maybe I should take daddy.”

“No!” she gaped at me in horror. “I wanna go!”

I burst out laughing. “I’m kidding. He has to work.”

“Thanks for letting me come along, Gabi,” she leaned on my shoulder and heaved a sigh.

“Thanks for taking care of the three of us.”

“Gabi, I’ve taken care of you since you were negative nine months old and you were just a bunch of cells.”

“That’s what mum’s been doing, Amelie.”

“And me, too! I helped her!”

“Okay, okay,” I laughed again. “Love you, Amy.”

“Love you too, sis. I can’t wait to meet my niece and nephew.”

“Will you go to Madrid to see them?”

“Of course! We’ll all be there.”

I smiled at her as she dragged the suitcases and put them on the floor before climbing back into bed with me and lying there just as she’d done almost every night when we were kids. Although it was a much tighter squeeze right now especially with my belly, it was still an enjoyable throwback.

Toni called me at around midnight, which made it evening in Brazil. I picked up the phone eagerly as Amelie eyed me from her side.

“Hey, baby,” his cheerful voice came across. “I got your message. I can’t wait to see you.”

“Me neither,” I smiled. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, just back from dinner,” there were rustling sounds from the other end. “Do you know how to get to the hotel? Do you need someone to get you from the airport?”

“It’s okay, Toni. Amelie will be with me.”

“You’ll be in the same hotel as all the other family members.”

“Really? That’s great.”

“We’ll be flying to Belo Horizonte tomorrow morning. I’ll call you if we get a break, okay?”

“Okay,” I said. “We got two first-class tickets. They cost billions.”

He laughed. “Anything for you, baby.”

I glanced at Amelie. “But you let Amelie freeload,” I said, and she rolled her eyes at me.

“Gabi,  _four_  of you are going on first-class, and we’re only paying for  _two_.”

It was my turn to burst out laughing. “That is true.”

“I miss you, Gabi,” he said.

“I miss you too, baby,” I smiled. “Amelie is giving me weird looks,” I pretended to whisper.

“She’s jealous,” he teased. “Oh, baby, I can’t wait till you’re here. I miss you so much. And the babies.”

“We miss you too, Toni,” I faked a high-pitched, child-like voice. “We miss you, daddy!”

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Amelie threw her hands up in resignation and walked out of the room. “I’m out! You give me goosebumps!”

“She’s gone,” I whispered to Toni.

“So I can talk dirty to you now?”

“Toni!”

He laughed; a beautiful, joyful sound. “We can keep the dirty things for when you’re less swollen.”

“Swollen?” I asked. “Is that what you think of me?”

“Yes, baby, you’re my big beautiful blob of joy and wonder.”

I giggled. “So cheesy!”

“Sleep early, okay baby? I’ll see you very very soon.”

“I can’t wait.”

“Me neither,” he sighed. “I love you so much, Gabriele. Go to sleep now. Good night, love.”

“Good night, Toni. I love you more.”

I hung up the phone and closed my eyes, relishing the cool night wind rustling my curtains. After all this time, after watching all the World Cup matches on TV instead of being able to go there and support my husband in person, I was finally going to watch Toni represent our country. Live.

I rested my hand on my belly as I drifted off to sleep. Our children were finally going to watch Toni represent our country. And they would be so, so proud of their amazing father.


	18. Juntos num só ritmo (All In One Rhythm)

Gabi’s POV

I slept like a baby throughout the ten-hour flight from Lisbon to Belo Horizonte, only waking up occasionally to have a drink and go to the washroom. It was much less uncomfortable than I’d imagined. Nevertheless, I was glad when we finally got off the plane in the sizzling Brazilian heat.

Amelie and I headed straight to the bustling taxi stand, only to have two panting ladies suddenly pop up behind us.

“Oh, my God,” Sarah breathed. “You walk so quickly for a pregnant woman.”

“Yeah, we thought we’d missed you,” Kathrin added.

“What are you guys doing here?” I gaped at them in shock.

“Toni practically  _begged_  us to come get you two,” Sarah said, rolling her eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “You really didn’t have to.”

“It’s fine,” Kathrin said as the both of them grabbed some of our bags and walked to the taxi stand with us. “We have a car booked,” she grinned.

“Wow,” Amelie said admiringly. “Now I’m glad you came to get us.”

They laughed and gladly told us all about what had been happening since the start of the tournament. The car ride to the hotel was filled with laughter, and the driver was equally friendly.

The hotel was wonderful; a bright, grand entrance with a huge chandelier above the reception area. We’d already had a room reserved for us, being family members, so we said bye to Kathrin and Sarah, who went off happily to do some spa thing, and headed straight to our room.

“Hey!” Amelie said as she was flipping through one of the hotel’s brochures. “They have this foot massage thing. Aren’t you always complaining about your feet?”

“Really? Do you wanna go?”

“Sure, if you want,” she got up and brought my slippers over to me. “Come on, let’s go.”

The foot masseuse was friendly, and her skills were heavenly. It hurt and tickled when she did my soles, but when she moved up to my ankles it was much more comfortable. In fact, it was so comfortable that I fell asleep in the chair while she was working her magic.

Toni’s POV

“Thank you,” I whispered to Amelie as she led me to the massage room where Gabi had fallen asleep. The masseuse had been done with her feet about a half hour ago, but they couldn’t bear to wake her up after seeing how peacefully she was sleeping. Amelie had called me, coincidentally as my break started and I had been about to give Gabi a call.

I slipped into the room and saw Gabi sleeping peacefully on the massage couch, her head leaning comfortably on the headrest and her back supported by a pillow. Her legs were still propped up on the leg rest.

It warmed my heart just seeing her face, even though she was sleeping and her mouth was wide open. I missed her so much, I wished that she was there to watch my games, and I wondered with every waking moment if she and the babies were fine. I could barely believe that she was right there in front of my eyes once again.

I went up beside her and pushed her mouth shut, smiling yet again at her completely blissful sleeping face. I pinched her cheek gently, and she stirred.

Making my way to the back of the chair just as she was opening her eyes, I placed my hands over her eyes gently, whispering, “Guess who?”

She stiffened in surprise and tried to turn around, but I stopped her from doing so.

“Toni?” she half-squeaked, half-whispered.

I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Clever girl.”

She pulled my hands off her face and turned around, giving a loud yelp as she saw me.

“TONI!!!” she screamed, frantically pulling me in for a big hug. “I missed you so much, baby.”

“I missed you too,” I smiled. “How was the massage?”

“Great,” she giggled, and then whispered, “But not as nice as yours.”

I gasped. “I’m going to tell her.”

She giggled again. “I don’t care.”

“How was the flight? Are you feeling okay?”

“I slept through the entire thing,” she pulled away and beamed at me. “I’m fine, baby. How are you? Tired?”

“I’m fine, darling. You slept? And then you fell asleep again here?”

She shrugged. “I’m a sleepy blob.”

I laughed and examined her face – she looked a little tired and jet-lagged, but her beautiful aquamarine eyes were still glowing with happiness. I smiled at her as I moved her hair behind her ear, and she smiled back, moving her hand and cupping my cheek.

Her soft fingers on my skin made me unable to wait any longer. Grabbing the back of her neck, I pulled her towards me and moved myself to meet her. An intense wave of relief and warmth spread through me as our lips met, and I couldn’t help but give out a little satisfied moan. A month. An entire month without Gabi, and here she was again.

She smiled as the sound escaped my lips. “So horny,” she whispered.

“I missed your lips, baby.”

“Only my lips?” she replied in between kisses.

“Your every single cell,” I pressed my lips harder against hers.

“I love you so much, Toni.”

“I love you too, Gabi,” I pulled away and noted her slight pout, so I leaned in and gave her another quick peck.

She smiled this time round, and leaned in to rest her head on my shoulder. I didn’t know how long we sat there, but I knew we were both happy; we were both overjoyed to be in each other’s arms once again.

Amelie’s POV

Gabi watched excitedly as all the players went to their positions after the national anthems were sung, paying special attention, of course, to her husband.

She started watching his every move once the whistle was blown, completely ignoring the run of play and the movement of the ball in order to observe him, and him alone.

“Is that how you watch football?” I leaned over to ask. “Like, I thought you’re supposed to watch the  _ball_.”

“I am…watching the ball…balls,” she giggled.

Realising what she meant, I slapped her on the shoulder. “What the hell? You’re such a pervert!”

“Shut up, watch the ball,” she laughed.

She watched with her mouth open the entire time, giving little happy grunts whenever Toni got the ball. Her big belly meant she couldn’t jump up to celebrate when the first two goals were scored, but she clapped happily from where she was sitting. Feeling a little lost (it being my first live football match in my entire life), I just sat beside her and clapped politely.

And then came Toni’s moment.  _The moment_. Toni volleying the ball into the back of the net beautifully – it was beautiful, even coming from me, someone who had almost never watched a football match. The crowd hadn’t even calmed down from the previous goal by Miro, but they shot up from their seats once again, cheering at the top of their lungs.

Clutching her belly for dear life, Gabi stood up as well and stared at the field in complete disbelief. “Was that him?” she asked, just as Toni blew a kiss in our general direction. “That was him, right? That was Toni!”

“I thought you’ve been watching him all along!”

“Yes!” she yelled over the crowd’s maniacal cheering. “But I…I…he…am I dreaming?”

“Jesus, Gabi, are you going to cry again? Please don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying,” she claimed, even though tears were rolling steadily down her face. “Oh, Amelie, he’s so precious,” she whispered, and I could barely hold in my shudder.

Her eyes never left the pitch as Brazil kicked off again. Most of the people in front of us had sat down, but they sprung to their feet once again as Toni scored the next goal barely seconds after the kick-off, snatching it from a Brazilian defender before playing some nice passes with Sami Khedira and then slotting the ball into the goal.  _What the hell? Has it even been a minute since his first goal?_

“Does he usually score this often?” I leaned over and yelled to Gabi over the overwhelming noise coming from the German fans.

“No,” she was all-out sobbing now. “No, he doesn’t.”

I turned to my right and saw that all the other WAGs were looking at us and clapping excitedly as an act of congratulations. Gabi, however, was still weeping her eyes out.

I remembered the first time she watched Toni play in the senior Bayern team and how she cried when he made those two assists. After all this time, she was still the same. She still cried. After an entire seven years, she still cried when Toni scored or made a goal.

With that realisation, a very un-Amelie thing occurred – I felt a burst of warmth spread through my body. I looked at Gabi, followed her gaze to the field, and saw that it was still fixed on Toni.

“Oh, Gabi,” I reached over and pulled her into a hug.

“Two goals,” she sobbed. “Two goals, Amelie.”

“Aren’t you happy?” I asked, stroking her shivering back gently.

“I am,” she said, her voice thick with tears. “I’m so happy, Amelie.”

“Oh, how does he handle you?” I muttered to myself. Not knowing what else to do, I just held her in my arms for the rest of the match, trying not to roll my eyes when she gave out a little happy sob whenever Toni got the ball, even if it was just for a second.

Just as the match was ending and Brazil had scored their one and only goal, my phone buzzed. I checked it and saw that it was our dad, whose text said: “Your brother-in-law broke the record for the fastest World Cup brace. 69 seconds.”

It was all I could do not to burst out laughing as I read it. I gave Gabi, who was still leaning on my shoulder and gazing lovingly towards the pitch, a gentle nudge. I handed her the phone and let her read the message herself.

“69 seconds?” she burst out laughing, making me unable to hold my own laughter any longer. “Well, I’m sure he’ll be pleased.”

We sat there laughing like idiots until the final whistle was blown, after which Gabi stood up and waved enthusiastically in Toni’s direction. I was about to tell her to stop, and that he wouldn’t see her, but he suddenly caught sight of us and waved back equally excitedly.

Much to my embarrassment, Gabi cupped her hands around her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs, “I LOVE YOU, BABY!”

“Gabi!” I whispered urgently as some of the fans turned around to stare at us.

Toni, however, just laughed loudly and yelled back, “I LOVE YOU TOO!”

“Jesus Christ!” I plopped down on my seat in resignation. They were such disgusting lovebirds.

But I looked again at Gabi’s blissful, joyful grin as she continued waving at Toni, and I thought – such a deep, innocent love like theirs was definitely not easy to find. And here I was, watching them show their love for each other and not care about the people around them judging them for their public display. As I watched Gabi’s smile grow wider when the stadium announcer announced that Toni was the man of the match, and as I watched her finally sit back down and gaze happily into space when Toni had disappeared – I realised exactly what their love was. And I knew there were so many different kinds of love, but on that night I saw the purest, most innocent, most passionate and most supportive love between my sister and my brother-in-law. And I would never, ever forget the look on both their faces; the look of pure bliss.

Gabi’s POV

“My husband is a World Cup record holder now,” I said proudly to Toni.

“What do you mean? We haven’t won it yet.”

The game was in a day, and we were both in the new hotel in Rio with just over fifteen minutes left of Toni’s break.

“You haven’t heard? You broke a record. And it involves the number 69.”

He burst out laughing. “That sounds promising.”

“You got the fastest brace, baby,” I gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“69 seconds?” he asked, and I nodded. “Well, I already know how to celebrate,” he whispered, nuzzling my ear.

“You have to wait till these two pop out,” I patted my tummy.

He pouted slightly, leaning in closer to it. “Come out soon, babies. Daddy wants to see your beautiful faces.”

“Excuses,” I whispered.

“Well, it’s true,” he grinned. “One goal for each of them.”

“But what about me?!”

“You have this,” he lifted the man of the match trophy he’d brought over just to show me. Rolling my eyes, I leaned in to kiss his slightly puckered lips. He laughed again and got up to leave. “I love you, baby. I’ll see you tomorrow. I hope you like the two goals I scored for you. All three of you.”

“We do,” I got up and walked with him to the door of mine and Amelie’s room. “Thank you for that wonderful game, baby. Good luck. The next time I see you, you’ll be a champion. No matter what.”

He slid his hand gently up the side of my neck and leaned in to give me a soft, lingering kiss that said so much more than any words could. “Bye, Gabriele.”

“Bye,” I mouthed as he backed away down the corridor. “I love you.”

He gave a face-splitting grin and blew a kiss back at me, not taking his eyes off me until he reached the lifts and the doors opened. I watched as he lifted the trophy again and gave me a last wave through the closing lift doors, smiling to myself, overjoyed that I could be there in Rio to watch him and to support him. I was so excited about being there, and I could tell that he was, too – which, in turn, made me so happy. Everything would be perfect as long as Toni was happy. Nothing else would ever matter as much.

And tomorrow, he had the chance to make himself one of the happiest men on earth. And I believed and I knew, I just knew that he could do it, he could fulfil his wish and win something he’d never won before, in front of the entire world, wearing the colours of his nation. And I would be the happiest, proudest wife and mother-to-be.

——

I stood high up in the stands grabbing Amelie’s arm tightly and staring out at the specks of white on the pitch. The cheering was deafening. Toni was on the ground, on his knees, yelling loudly and possibly crying with happiness. They’d done it. My husband was a World Champion.

“Oh, Amelie,” I whispered, leaning my head on her shoulder.

She gave a loud sigh. “Are you crying  _again_?”

“I might be,” I mumbled.

“Please don’t,” she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice, although I knew she was only teasing.

I sighed and continued leaning on her shoulder as the players went to collect their medals and the trophy, after which the rest of the WAGs made their way down to ground level and climbed over the barrier into the pitch to meet their significant others. For obvious reasons, I couldn’t do the same.

Suddenly, a man in a Germany official tracksuit came running up the stairs and towards me and Amelie. He grabbed my hand gently and leaned in to talk to me over the roaring crowd. “Your husband asked me to bring you through the back.”

I nodded, and he led me along, but I looked back and saw Amelie standing there by herself, all forlorn and lonely, so I tapped him on the shoulder and asked, “Can my sister come?”

He nodded, so I waved at Amelie to come along. Her face lit up as she bounded over to us and hooked her arm in mine, and for what could have been the millionth time since I was a little kid, I felt so thankful that I had a big sister like her.

The kind man brought us into the back and up the steps to the pitch, patiently waiting as I navigated them carefully. The atmosphere down on ground level was overwhelming. It was much more than what was up there in the stands, and for a moment I was stunned, standing rooted to the spot as he gave me a kind squeeze on the shoulder and went back to do his duties.

I gripped Amelie’s hand tightly, thoroughly confused and dazed by all the noise and not entirely sure what I was supposed to do there, when I saw the beautiful overjoyed face of my husband as he ran as quickly as he could towards me with his tired legs.

“Hey,” he said into my hair as he took me into his arms. I didn’t even care that he smelled like a pile of week-old laundry. I wrapped my arms tightly around him and buried my face in his damp shirt.

“I love you so much,” I mumbled into his shoulder.

“I love you too, baby,” he kissed the back of my ear. “I love you so much.”

There was an extra pair of arms that suddenly wrapped themselves around me and Toni, and I realised it was Amelie when she said, “You two are gonna make me cry, and crying is not my thing.”

Toni laughed into my hair. “Hi, Amelie.”

“Hi,” she said. “Congratulations!”

“Thank you,” I felt him smile. “Gabi, baby, are you crying?”

“No, I’m not,” I whispered.

“She totally is,” Amelie butted in.

Toni pulled away, leading Amelie to do the same, and grabbed my face gently in his hands, using his thumbs to stop any tears from falling. “Don’t cry, okay? You’re on TV. The entire world is watching you.”

“Really?” I sobbed. “Oh, no. I’m on TV. I look so fat.”

He laughed lovingly and leaned into give me a kiss on the lips. “I love you so much, Gabriele.”

“I love you, too,” I smiled against his lips.

“You wanna sit down?” he asked. I nodded, and he brought me and Amelie to the Germany bench and sat down next to us.

He took off the medal and passed it to me. “For you.”

I couldn’t help but burst into tears again as I took the medal from him. A World Champion. He was a World Champion. Before I’d met him, not once had I thought I’d ever be friends with, needless to say married to, a World Champion.

“It’s beautiful,” I whispered, turning it in my hands. “And if you say ‘just like you,’ I’ll smack your head for all the TV viewers to watch.”

“But it is,” he said, a little disappointed.

Just then, his teammate Jerome’s twin girls Soley and Lamia came running excitedly up to us, followed by Jerome himself. Toni picked one of them up as she giggled happily, while the other tried to climb up a horrified Amelie’s legs.

“Just hold her, Amelie,” I rolled my eyes.

Cautiously, Amelie picked her – I think it was Soley – up and bounced her on her lap. The little girl laughed adorably as her father looked on.

“Congratulations, Jerome,” I told him, and he beamed at me in thanks before leaving his twins with us and walking to find his other teammates.

“She’s so cute!” Amelie exclaimed as Soley grabbed her by the face.

I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched her play with Soley. Turning to my other side, I saw Toni was equally entertained by Lamia. I scooted over closer to him. “Thinking of Mia?” I asked.

He laughed, never taking his eyes off her. “How do you know?”

I shrugged. “Just a guess.”

Lamia turned around and caught sight of me, and like her sister did to Amelie, proceeded to reach out and squish my face between her hands. “Hey!” she screamed.

“Hello,” I tried my best to say with my face squished.

She giggled. “You’re pretty,” she yelled into my face.

“Awww,” I smiled and reached out to pinch her little chubby cheeks. “You’re beautiful, Lamia.”

“I’m Soley!” she exclaimed, grinning at me and leaning over to give me a kiss on the cheek. She turned and did the same to Toni before scrambling off his lap and going over to Amelie’s side to pull her sister along. The both of them skipped along happily as the three of us watched.

“She’s Soley?” I squeaked.

“Don’t worry,” Toni said. “I can’t tell them apart either.”

“Well, at least we won’t have that problem,” I said.

He burst out laughing. “That’s true!” he said, leaning over and putting his ear to my tummy. “How are you two doing in there? Do you like daddy’s gift to you?” he picked up the medal and placed it on my tummy.

“They do,” I smiled and grabbed his free hand tightly. “I’m so proud of you, Toni.”

He sat back upright and smiled back at me. “Thank you so much. For coming all the way over here to watch me. For everything.”

“Stop thanking me or I’ll smack your head.”

“I should never have told you about the TV thing.”

I laughed. “Do you wanna go join them?” I asked, gesturing to the small groups of people scattered around the pitch.

He shook his head. “All I need is you, Gabriele,” he said softly, kissing the top of my head.

I turned and pressed my lips hard against his, grabbing the back of his hair and pulling him closer to me. Even though there were so many people around us and so many others watching us, I felt so alone. I felt alone with Toni in the midst of all those people. And it was the most magical feeling ever. Because I would rather be alone with Toni than spend my time with anyone else at all.

“I love you so much,” I whispered.

“I love you too, baby,” he whispered back, giving me one last kiss on my nose before pulling away and grabbing my hand tightly, our fingers fitting in perfectly in the spaces between the other’s.

“I can’t believe I’m married to a World Champion,” I said.

“I can’t believe you’re married to a World Champion either,” he replied, a hint of humour in his voice.

“Is that supposed to be praising yourself?”

“A little,” he laughed. “I can’t believe you’re my wife, Gabi.”

I smiled. “Don’t be silly. We’ve known each other for ages. Why are you still being so polite?”

“It’s just…you know…everything we’ve been through,” he turned and kissed my hair again. “Everything that has happened. And now we’re here. We’re at the top of the world, Gabriele. You and me. You and me and Johann and Mia.”

“We are,” I whispered, the realisation hitting me harder than I’d expected. After everything, all the ups and downs, and there we were, our little family of four sitting at the side of the pitch in Rio, holding a World Cup winners’ medal and resting in each other’s arms. I grabbed onto his hand tightly, knowing that I’d never, ever let it go if I had a choice.

“I love you,” he said again.

“I love you too, champion,” I lifted his hand and kissed the back of it. “I love you so much.”

I leaned on his smelly shoulder to watch the night unfold in front of us – Amelie running excitedly after Soley and Lamia, the other WAGs gathering in a little group while their boys wandered around and took selfies with their medals, and the excited crowd starting to party the night away under the glorious red of the evening sky.

I smiled – my husband was a World Champion. The joy within him was almost radiating out to my side. I felt so, so happy, just because he was. Just because Toni was happy. I rested my other hand on my belly.

_Johann, Mia. Daddy and mummy love you so much. Do you see this? We’re on top of the world. Can you feel what we feel tonight? It’s a gift to you. It’s daddy’s gift to you. We can’t wait to see you two. We love you, and we will give you everything we can. We hope you like this gift. We love you, Johann. We love you, Mia._


	19. A Whole New World

Gabi’s POV

I sighed as I lay back on the bed reading a magazine and Amelie sat on the floor next to me to do her work. The house was practically empty except for this bed, a TV on the still-bare room wall, a small work table, and a big couch and TV downstairs.

Due to his connections, Toni was able to get us a big place in Madrid from one of his club teammate’s international teammate. Or something like that. I didn’t know, and it didn’t really matter as long as we had a place to live.

It was big and spacious, but probably only because we hadn’t gotten much furniture yet. Nevertheless, the living room area was huge and might have been twice the size of our original space at Toni’s house. There was a ground floor guestroom as well as four rooms on the second floor, which we planned to sort out for the kids when they were a little older. For now, the plan was only for us to sleep in the master bedroom and for the one nearest to it to be turned into a nursery.

Toni was back in Munich after all the celebrations, but my letter from Dr. Gerber had already passed ten days old and couldn’t be used on any further flights. Considering that Toni might have to miss the childbirth if I was stuck in Munich and unable to fly, we’d decided that I’d stay in the empty Madrid house with Amelie while he packed up our things and brought them over with Julius and Lennox. He’d only been gone for about two or three days, but I was already missing him.

He was due back this afternoon and then to officially sign his contract with Real Madrid tomorrow. I tried not to think too much about the entire thing – in fact, I was beginning to feel that even as his wife, I shouldn’t butt into his career – and just concentrated on supporting him.

——

I sat in the car and waited as Toni was presented to an enthusiastic Santiago Bernabeu, not wanting to bother myself with the rowdy crowd and the humid air in the stadium. I could hear the announcer’s voice and the loud roar of the crowd from where I was, and even though I didn’t understand a single word of Spanish, I knew immediately that was when Toni had entered the pitch.

I smiled to myself and closed my eyes, imagining I was inside the stadium, watching him strut his stuff in front of his adoring public.

The next time I opened my eyes, the sunlight was much dimmer and Toni was next to me in the car.

I looked at him, confused, and then around at the surroundings – we were parked outside a furniture store. I turned my gaze back to Toni, still too confused and half-asleep to say a word.

He laughed and moved to push my sticky hair out of my face. The stuffy Spanish weather was really getting to me. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Hot,” I mumbled.

“I think so, too,” he smirked at me.

I was too lazy to yell at him, so I just rolled my eyes. “What are we doing here?”

“Getting furniture for our house, of course,” he smiled.

I’d expected him to take care of everything, and I’d trusted him to do everything beautifully, so I was quite surprised that we were going to shop for new furniture together.

“But…I thought you were going to do it yourself.”

“No, baby, it’s  _our_  home. I want to do it with you. So that I can be sure you like it, too.”

I sighed and leaned my head on the headrest. “I’m so tired.”

“Really?” he swept his hand across my forehead. “Do you want to go home? It’s okay, I can do it myself.”

I glanced at him and was immediately taken in by how his enthusiasm about the furniture shopping had drained. He looked so disappointed. And even though I was tired, I understood how much it would mean to him if I picked out new things with him.

I took his hand gently in mine. “Let’s go,” I told him.

“You don’t want to go home? Or you can rest here, I’ll go –“

To shut his blabbering mouth, I leaned over and kissed him on the lips. “Let’s go,” I whispered again.

Finally convinced, he stepped out of the car and waited for me on the sidewalk, and we walked hand in hand into the furniture store.

By the end of our trip, we’d picked out another big armchair, a bigger grey sofa set, a low coffee table and a big wooden dining table with round edges, a few other tables, stools, and chairs, a bed for the guestroom so Amelie wouldn’t need to sleep on the couch, a blue cot, a pink cot, a baby changing table, a few things for Julius and Lennox’s dog corner, and some other small decorations. They were due for delivery the next day. It was dark by the time we returned to the car.

“Um…Gabi,” Toni grabbed my arm and stopped me as I was getting into the car. “It’s dark. Do you want to walk?”

“Why?” I asked.

“Um…you know…” he tightened his grip on my arm. “The headlights.”

“Oh,” I whispered. “You remember.”

“Gabi, don’t be silly. I’m your husband. Of course I remember.”

I smiled. If I were to be completely honest, I really didn’t want to sit in the car at night. “How far is it to our place?”

“About fifteen or twenty minutes. It might be shorter if we walk through the park. We can stay off the road, too.”

“And the car?”

“I’ll come get it tomorrow. Don’t worry, Gabi.”

My feet hurt a little, but I thought that a little exercise wouldn’t hurt. Plus, I had Toni by my side. So I grabbed his hand and let him take me along as he protectively shielded me from the passing cars by taking the side nearer the road. It was darker when we entered the park, and I felt a little more comfortable without the constant flashing of car headlights as they passed us.

Suddenly, Toni let go of my hand and went running off the sidewalk for some unknown reason. Confused, I waddled after him, only to have him squat down and pick something up from the grass.

“Here,” he grinned proudly, holding up a little white daisy towards me. “For you.”

“Awww,” I couldn’t help but let out a little giggle. He was just like a little boy. “Thank you, baby.”

“What’s my reward?” he asked, again like a child, standing there with his lips puckered and his face extended towards me.

Laughing, I leaned in to kiss him quickly on the lips, planning to pull away in a second because of the other people around us. Alas, in typical Toni fashion, he slid his hand discreetly into my hair and held me in place as he continued kissing me.

“You’ve overcollected your reward,” I whispered against his lips.

“I know you don’t care,” he whispered back.

A huge grin broke out on my face, because he was right. I tried to ignore the whispers and the occasional claps and whoops from people strolling past as I immersed in the wonderful taste of Toni’s lips, until he finally pulled away with a contented sigh.

“How are your feet?” he asked. “And your back?”

“You’re asking me that after you kept me standing here so you could kiss me?”

He laughed lovingly and moved to tuck my hair behind my ear. “Yes, I am,” he grinned.

I couldn’t help but reflect the excited smile on his face. “I’m fine,” I said. “It would be nice if we could sit down for a while, though.”

Eagerly, he dragged me to an empty bench nearby and made me sit down. Taking the daisy from me, he snapped off the bottom portion of the stem and stuck the flower into my hair above my ear. “Pretty girl,” he said, satisfied, giving me another kiss on my head.

“Pretty boy,” I sighed.

“Nice view,” he said as he settled beside me, referring to the big lake in front of us.

“Yeah,” I whispered.

“Gabi, stop looking at me. I’m talking about the lake.”

“You’re the nicest view ever.”

He smiled a little shyly and leaned over to kiss my head. “Thank you for being here. In Madrid.”

“Thank you for walking with me,” I mumbled lamely as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

“Do you miss home?”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “This is home now.”

I felt him smile against the top of my head. “You really think that way?”

“Do I have any other choice?” I asked, before realising that might have sounded a little harsh. “We’re here now, Toni. That’s all that matters. And I won’t try to change it. I like it here, okay? Don’t worry.”

“I’m so sorry, Gabi.”

“For what? Don’t be sorry.”

“Every time I think of when we fought, and when you yelled at me…” he gave a little shudder before wrapping both his arms tightly around me. “I don’t know what I’d ever do without you.”

“You don’t have to,” I smiled, turning to kiss the side of his neck. “That will never happen.”

“I love you so much, baby. Thank you for everything. Thank you.”

“I love you too, Toni,” I rested my cheek on his shoulder. “You know, whenever I bring up the accident and everything about it, you shut me up, but here you are going on and on about the Madrid thing.”

He sighed. “Okay, baby. I won’t feel bad about it anymore.”

“I love you. Nothing will ever change that.”

“Not even the kids?”

The tone of his voice – a little anxious and sceptical – made me think a little longer about the true answer. Maybe it appeared on the surface that nothing would ever change us, but having kids was a big thing. We would never get any time alone. Not like this, sitting in the park alone at night, just the two of us. No more vacations to Perissa on our own without constantly worrying about the kids. No more peaceful nights, at least for the first two years or so.

And even though I didn’t feel ready at all, I knew I had to be. And I knew that as long as I had Toni by my side,  _we_ would be ready for anything that came our way. I had faith that the kids would never change us. Sure, they might change us individually, but they would never change us two as a couple. Toni and Gabi. They would never change  _us._

Maybe Toni was worried that taking care of two kids alone while he was busy with work would overwhelm me. Maybe he was worried that I’d love the kids more than I loved him. Maybe he was worried that I’d love  _him_  more than I loved the kids. And I couldn’t guarantee any one of those scenarios wouldn’t happen.

But I had faith in us. I trusted us, and I trusted us  _and_  Johann and Mia.

“Toni,” I began, whispering into his shoulder, afraid that my voice would give way if I spoke any louder. “I’m not ready to be a mum. I’m not ready at all. But I know I have to do it, and I have to learn, and everything will be okay because I have you by my side. I know you’re scared. I’m scared, too. But one thing won’t change – I love you. I love you more than anything else. And if you’re scared that having kids will change us…I’m sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t careful and I’m sorry we’re going to be parents so early. But I will tell you right now, I will never stop loving you. I’ll love the kids, of course, but it’s a different kind of love. I love all of you, and I will do all I can do protect all of you. But I will love them as a parent, and I will try to make every single thing right for them, and I’ll try to make sure they grow up into the most perfect boy and girl we could ever ask for. But you? I can’t do that for you. Because I trust you to do it yourself. I love you, Toni, and I trust you. The kids might change our lives radically, but they will never change the fact that I love you.

“And the kids – remember when you told me that you’d always see me in them? You’d always see us? And you said that was because they were made out of our love. That will always be true, baby. We’ll always love them because they were made of us. And we  _will_  get to spend time together, the both of us, because we have such a supportive and caring family. Your parents, my parents, Amelie, Felix…they will always be here for us. You know that. We can always depend on them. And we can still see the world. We can see the world as two of us, or even better, as all four of us. We can show them the world, Toni, even while we’re seeing it ourselves, even while we’re still learning about it ourselves. Now we can do it together with them. How wonderful is that?”

His arms moved more tightly around me as he buried his face in the crook of my neck. I felt a few drops of his tears fall on my shoulder. “Oh, Gabi,” he whispered.

“Are you crying?” I smiled. “Don’t cry, crybaby.”

“You are the most amazing wife anyone could ever ask for.”

“I have my moments,” I giggled.

“I love you so much,” he whispered. “I’m sorry. It’s just…it’s so new here, and I don’t know anyone at the club except Sami, and I feel…lost.”

“Do you feel lonely?” I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “You’ll always have me, baby.”

“I know,” he laughed along. “You know, I always thought you were gonna say ‘I told you so,’ so I never told you that I was afraid that I’d feel lonely.”

“But I would never say that!”

“I know,” he sighed. “I feel silly.”

“Silly daddy.”

“You know, as much as I’m scared, I really can’t wait to meet Johann and Mia.”

“Me, too,” I smiled. “They’re going to be the most wonderful babies ever.”

“I know, right?” he laughed, and then sighed. “I love you so much, Gabriele.”

“I love you, too. Now stop crying, okay?”

“Who says I’m crying?” he pulled away and gazed at me to make his point. “I’m just…peeing from my eyes.”

“Toni!” I smacked him on the shoulder. “That’s disgusting.”

“ _You’re_  disgusting,” he teased.

I leaned over and gave him the longest, sweetest kiss I could manage. “Wanna go home now?” I asked.

He nodded and took my hand before standing up, and we continued strolling slowly through the dimly-lit park and then down the street to our new home – all the time talking and planning, again about the new additions to our family and what we were going to give them; savouring the cool night breeze, a welcome break from the humid Spanish summer; and of course, treasuring the last few weeks of alone time we had together.

Toni’s POV

It felt wonderful to finally play my first match for Real Madrid and to win my first trophy with them, too. It was a great start, and I was beginning to feel more at home with my new teammates.

I’d called Gabi after the match ended, only because she would never call me as she thought she would be disturbing me. After all these years, she was still the same. She’d told me how proud she was of me, and for the millionth time in the past few months, I felt like the luckiest man in the world to have her by my side.

Gabi had been in bed rest for the past two weeks, with her back and feet getting too sore for her to walk around on. With what was left of my break, I spent time by her side and watched TV with her, read books to her, or just sat and talked with her. We’d painted the kids’ nursery in bright colours and made it up nicely waiting for their arrival. Her parents had landed in Madrid a few days ago, and they had kept her occupied as I returned to training. I could barely wait for our children to be born.

We’d landed in the Madrid airport in the early afternoon with the Super Cup trophy safely in a trunk, and we were going to head directly to the training ground and then back home in our own ways. However, just as I was about to turn my phone back on to call Gabi, a very flustered figure came rushing towards the group of players and tried to reach out to me, but she was stopped by the security guards.

“Toni!” she screeched, and I realised it was Amelie, so I left the walking group and made my way towards her.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, signalling to the guards that I knew her and that everything was alright. “Is it Gabi? What happened to Gabi?”

She grabbed me by the arm, panting too heavily to say any more. As we reached the taxi stand, I saw that there was already a taxi waiting for us. Amelie ran straight towards it, dragging me along.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, beginning to get a little worried.

“Hospital now,” she breathed at the driver. “Quick!”

“Hospital?!” I asked. “Amelie, what’s wrong? What happened to Gabi? Tell me!”

She turned and glared at me. “Don’t be stupid, Toni! Gabi’s in labour!”


	20. Complete

Gabi’s POV

“Where is he?” I panted, gripping my mum’s arm for dear life as another wave of contractions swept through my lower body. “Where’s Toni?”

“Shhh, honey, he’ll be here soon,” she soothed, sweeping my sweaty hair out of my face.

“Now,” I whispered, just as the nurse asked me to push harder. “I need him now.”

Just then, the door to the room swung open and in barged a panting Toni, still wearing his white formal shirt under the scrubs that the hospital provided him. Prying my fingers off her arm, my mum stood up, gave me a kiss on the head, and walked out of the room, stopping to give Toni a kiss on his cheek.

“Toni,” I whimpered, barely able to gather enough energy anymore.

“Baby,” he rushed over and planted his lips on my head. “How are you?”

“It hurts,” I whispered, grabbing on tightly to his arm.

“Is there anything I can do?” Toni asked the nurses.

“I’m afraid not,” one of them said apologetically. “Mrs. Kroos. You have to push harder. Ready?”

I yelled out loud as the next contraction arrived, rocking my entire body. My nails were clawing deep into Toni’s arm, but he didn’t seem to care. Instead, he wiped the dripping sweat off my face and whispered to me that everything was going to be alright.

“You can do this, okay baby?” he whispered, although he was evidently also scared and confused. “You can do this. I love you so much.”

“I LOVE YOU!” I screamed as the next contraction arrived and I pushed as hard as I could.

“Shhh, baby,” he kissed me again, on the lips this time. Tears were streaming down my face and mixing with the sweat, but he used his palm to wipe it all away. “It’ll be alright.”

“Anything?” I asked the nurses and the doctor, who were looking intently at my nether regions.

The nurses immediately turned to the doctor, who looked a little resigned.

“Mr. Kroos, Mrs. Kroos,” he cleared his throat. The first twin is breech. We have to do a C-section.”

Toni’s POV

“What does that mean?” I asked loudly, on the verge of losing my cool.

“He’s legs-first,” he explained. “He looked like he was turning back, but he’s too far out now. It’s dangerous to do a vaginal delivery if he’s legs-first.”

Gabi almost clawed my arm off as the next wave hit her. “Is it dangerous if you do a C-section?” I asked.

“It’s slightly more dangerous for the mother than it is for the babies.”

I turned to Gabi. Dangerous for her. “How much more?”

“Just a little. It’s much safer than if we allow this to continue.”

I turned to Gabi again. She was pale. Her face was almost completely drained of colour, and she lay back on the pillow, utterly exhausted. Her hand, though, was still gripping tightly onto my arm.

“C-section?” I whispered to her. Her eyes were closed.

“Anything,” she panted. “Just…get them out. I want to see them…I want to hold them.”

“We have to do it right now,” the doctor said. “And I’m sorry, Mr. Kroos, but you have to leave the room.”

“No,” Gabi whispered, and I thought it was impossible for her grip to tighten, but it did. “Don’t leave. Toni…don’t leave.”

“I have to go, baby,” I kissed her on the head. “I’ll see you later. Everything will be just fine.”

“No,” she sobbed, tears streaming steadily down the sides of her face and hitting the pillow. “Don’t…I need you.”

Just then, the nurse held up a needle and mouthed the word ‘anaesthetic’ at me. I nodded, and she grabbed Gabi’s other hand, swabbed it, and injected the liquid into her.

“Sleep, baby,” I whispered, putting my lips on her head. “Sleep now. It’ll all be fine. I’ll be waiting for you. I love you so much, Gabriele.”

“Sing…sing to me,” she whispered, drifting off.

I slipped my fingers in between hers and started singing softly as the doctor and his nurses looked on. It took just seconds for Gabi to fall asleep, and then the nurses were ushering me out of the room so they could proceed. I gave her one last kiss on her head, and then on her lips, before I exited the room and waited as patiently as I could, knowing that the next time I saw her, things would be completely different.

I went back outside, disposed of my scrubs, and joined Gabi’s family on the seats lining the corridor.

“What happened?” Amelie asked. “Is she alright? Why are you outside?”

“He said the first twin is breech,” I told them as I sat down.

“What does that mean?” she demanded.

“The legs are out first,” her mum explained, before turning to me. “Are they doing a C-section?”

“Yeah,” I managed a smile. And then everything was quiet as we sat there waiting for the operation to be done. Waiting for my babies to be born.

Fortunately, the operation was quick and it took less than an hour. The doctor was beaming as he exited the room and walked towards us.

“Congratulations, Mr. Kroos. You have a son and a daughter, in that order, difference of a minute. They’re fine, all cleaned up, vital signs perfect, and they’re in the nursery now. Cots 8 and 9.”

“And my wife?”

“She’s fine. Still sleeping, but she’s perfectly fine.”

“Thank you,” I grabbed his hand and shook it hard as he continued smiling at me. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re very welcome. Have a good day!” he waved as he made his way back down the corridor.

I ran to the nursery window and pressed my palms hard against it, scanning the room for my children. My Johann and Mia. Two nurses were pushing the cots 8 and 9 into the room from a back door, stopping them at the front of the room, right in front of us. I could almost reach out to touch them, if not for the glass window.

“That’s them,” I whispered to Amelie, who had stopped beside me. “I’m a dad.”

“Goodness, Toni, are you going to cry? Please don’t. I’ve had enough of Gabi’s crying.”

“They’re beautiful,” I whispered.

“They look just like you,” Mrs. Meiser beamed.

I turned to her. “They do?”

She nodded. “They do.”

I turned back to look at them – one wrapped in pink, the other in blue, eyes closed and mouth open, just like Gabi when she was asleep. Their hands were in tiny white gloves to keep them warm, but their heads were turned so they faced each other. It was a twin thing, I supposed.

“They’re so beautiful,” I said again.

“We told you they’d be,” she proclaimed. “And they are!”

I laughed, although tears were brimming in my eyes. My children. My beautiful children. It was all I could do not to barge into the nursery and cradle them in my arms and sing to them. After all these months of waiting, they were finally here.

Gabi’s POV

The lights were dim and the drapes were closed when I awoke, but I was exhausted, confused, and my limbs felt so heavy. The energy I could muster only allowed me to roll my head towards the side, where Toni was sitting, grabbing onto my hand and smiling at me.

I felt so happy to see his face again, especially since his team had decided to stay an extra day in Wales. I’d almost thought that he would miss the childbirth, but there he was anyway. I could finally see him without the pain almost blinding me.

“Hey,” he whispered.

I smiled with all the energy I had left. “Hey, baby,” I whispered back. “Where are they?”

His smile grew wider as he pointed to the other side of the bed, where there were two transparent cots containing a small bundle each, one pink and one blue.

A sudden burst of adrenaline through my body made me sit up in bed and peer eagerly over at them. “That’s them?” I asked. “Oh, they look so adorable even from here.”

“They’re beautiful,” he leaned over and planted his lips gently on my forehead. “Thank you, Gabriele. Thank you.”

I felt my stomach area. “Why am I still bloaty?”

“Is bloaty a word?” he laughed. “It’s the air. It’ll be gone in a while.”

Just then, the door to the room opened and Amelie and my parents appeared. They all grinned when they saw that I was awake.

“Hey, sis,” Amelie said, handing me a bag. “We went for dinner and bought you a cheeseburger.”

For some unknown reason, my dad burst out laughing upon seeing my face. “Look at her! She just wants to hold them. She doesn’t care for your cheeseburger, Amelie.”

“Thank you, Amy,” I laughed as Amelie sat down on the chair at the side, pouting. “I’ll eat later. I want to hold them.”

Toni was already standing by the babies’ side, still beaming at me. “Ready?” he asked, and I nodded eagerly.

He picked Johann up first, and gently carried him over and placed him in my arms. “He was first,” he said, walking back towards Mia, picking her up and bringing her towards me. “And Mia is one minute younger.”

I took a look at Johann, who was sleeping peacefully in my arms – actually, I didn’t know if he was sleeping or if it was too early for him to open his eyes – and grabbed one of his adorable little gloved hands.

“Hey, Johann,” I whispered. “You’re a handsome young man, you know?”

He opened his mouth as if to smile, but it turned out to be more like a casual stretch of the jaw. I leaned over and planted a kiss on his head. “Mummy loves you so much,” I whispered.

I turned to Toni, who was cradling Mia in his arms. “Wanna hold her?”

“Can I hold both?” I asked, my voice cracking.

He smiled and leaned over to pass Mia to me. I took her with my free arm, after which a rush of deep emotion coursed through my entire body. I couldn’t help but burst into tears. My children. I was holding my children.

“Oh, they’re beautiful,” I sobbed.

“I know, right?” Toni whispered, reaching over and wiping my tears with his thumbs because I had no hands to do that myself.

“Mia,” I whispered. “Mummy loves you so much. You’re going to be such a pretty girl, and we’re going shopping and mummy is going to buy you all the clothes you want, okay?”

I gave her a kiss before I turned to Johann. “And you’re going to grow up to be a talented, gorgeous footballer just like your daddy, and you’re going to take care of your little sister, okay?”

There was soft laughter and little sobs coming from my family, and Toni leaned over and kissed my lips gently. “I love you so much, Gabi.”

“I love you, too,” I sobbed. “Oh, Toni, they look just like you.”

“Why are all of you saying that? I don’t see it!”

“They do,” I held them out side by side. “See? They look just like you while you’re sleeping.”

“It’s the eyes,” my mum said. “And the mouth. They’re shaped just like Toni’s. And they have your nose, Gabi.”

“Yeah, your cute little nose,” Toni booped it with his finger.

I laughed even though I still couldn’t stop the tears from spilling down my face. I pressed the twins as close as I could against my chest without suffocating them. “I love them so much,” I kissed them each on the top of their little heads. “My precious little sticky gooey darlings.”

“Can you eat your cheeseburger now?” Amelie asked. “We wanna hold them, too.”

Toni burst out laughing and took them from me to pass to my parents and Amelie. I sat there and gobbled up my cheeseburger as the three of them cooed softly at the babies, pinching their cheeks and grabbing their little hands.

I turned and saw that Toni was still gazing lovingly at the kids as he sat next to me on the bed. “Happy daddy?” I asked.

He broke out into a charming grin. “Very happy daddy,” he grabbed my hand. “Babies are so adorable. I want five hundred of them.”

“What?” I asked, shocked. “Like, you want  _me_  to give birth to  _more_?”

“Don’t be silly, of course it’s you. Who else would it be? I don’t want anyone else to have my babies.”

“But…I…but…” I sputtered. “We already have  _two_!”

He turned and burst into laughter when he saw my face. “I’m kidding! We’ll see how it goes, okay? I’m sure these two will be enough of a handful.”

“That’s better,” I leaned on his shoulder. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, baby,” he turned and kissed my hair. “I love you so much, you have no idea.”

We sat there watching my family and the babies until it was night time and everyone except Toni had to leave. The babies were returned to their places in the nursery, and Toni fluffed up my pillows for me to sleep on as I went to the bathroom.

Toni’s POV

Gabi emerged from the bathroom looking completely broken. Alarmed, I rushed over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” I smoothened her hair, which was still sticky from all the sweat earlier.

She lifted her shirt and pulled down her pants slightly. There was a white bandage at her pelvis, which looked like it had been pulled off and then pasted back. “This will leave a scar, right?” she whispered.

“Baby, no one will see it.”

“What if I wear a bikini?” she asked, her voice quivering. “Everyone will see it.”

“Gabi,” I brought her over to the bed and sat her down. “Then everyone will know you’re a mother, and that’s the most beautiful thing to be. You’re a gorgeous mum, Gabi, and you will always be. Maybe they’ll look at you and think to themselves, ‘how did that girl stay so slim after her childbirth?’”

“But what about you?” tears spilled over and rolled down her face. “Will you think it’s ugly?”

“Why would I?” I moved to wipe her tears. “Gabi, I’ve seen you fall asleep with your mouth wide open and your hair all over your face. I’ve seen you not brush your teeth or shower for the entire day. I’ve seen you lie on your bed and Skype me on your laptop with a double chin. I’ve seen you eat with sauce dribbling all over your face. And you looked beautiful all those times, baby.

“I’ve seen you lie motionless on a hospital bed for six weeks with injuries all over your face and your head shaved bald. I will never forget how that felt, Gabi. I will never forget how you looked. I’m happy just as long as you’re healthy and you’re safe. It doesn’t matter what scars you have. I will just love you more because of them. Besides, you had my babies…” I stopped as I felt a lump rise in my throat. “You gave birth to our babies, Gabi. That scar…it’s proof that you did. There is nothing…nothing more wonderful anyone can ever do for me.”

She turned and buried her face in my shirt. “You’re so smooth. You make everything okay, even when I want to beat myself up. And even when I want to beat  _you_  up. You make it all okay, and you make me so, so happy.”

“The scar doesn’t matter to me, Gabi,” I said into her hair. “And it shouldn’t matter to you either. It just means you’ll have another story to tell our kids when they grow up.”

She lifted her head and smiled. “I love you so much,” she whispered.

I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the lips. My precious, beautiful wife and the wonderful mother of my children. “I love you more, Gabriele.”

“Can we go see our babies?”

“Are you tired?”

She shook her head. “I wanna see our babies.”

I brought her slippers over and held her hand as she stood up unsteadily. And then we walked hand in hand down the dimly-lit hospital corridor to the nursery, which was now dark and filled with sleeping babies.

“There they are,” I whispered, pointing. “8 and 9.”

“They’re gorgeous,” she whispered back. “They’re gonna be such heartbreakers when they grow up.”

I laughed. “That is so true.”

She nudged me in the ribs. “Aren’t you going to sing to them?”

“They can’t hear me!”

“It’s the thought that counts,” she grinned cheekily as I rolled my eyes at her. “Okay, fine, it’s because I want to hear it.”

So I started singing softly, ignoring the curious glances of passing doctors, nurses, and patients, wrapping my arm around Gabi’s waist as she leaned on me and closed her eyes, a blissful smile on her face. Tears were streaming down her face, but I didn’t try to stop them this time, because I knew she was happy and relieved.

“Good night, Johann,” I whispered as I finished the lullaby. “Good night, Mia.”

Gabi opened her eyes and went closer to the glass window, pressing her palms and her face up close to it. She gazed at them dreamily, like she longed to hold them, as if she could never bear to let them go, not even for one millisecond. Slowly, a huge, loving smile spread across her face.

“Mummy and Daddy love you so much,” she whispered, tears still rolling down her cheeks. “We love you so much.”


	21. Welcome Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song accompanying this chapter is Bonfire Heart by James Blunt.

Toni’s POV

“Quick, put him down,” Gabi said, flustered, as she fumbled with the key and unlocked the door to our place. “We need to change his diaper.”

“Put him down where?” I asked. I had both Mia and Johann in my arms and Gabi was carrying huge bags full of diapers and milk.

“Oh, crap,” she muttered as we both realised the changing bed was upstairs. “On the couch, I guess.”

“What if they roll off?” I asked.

“I’ll watch them. Quick, get a diaper,” she thrust one of the bags at me.

I sighed. It was the babies’ first day home after three days in the hospital, and Johann was crying his lungs out because his diaper was soiled. Thankfully, Mia was just lying obediently beside him, staring over curiously.

Opening one of the diaper packets, I handed Gabi a diaper and stood by her side.

“What am I supposed to do?” she asked.

“You’re asking me? How should I know?”

“Okay, well,” she picked up the diaper packet and read the instructions on the back before passing it to me. “Read it to me. Step by step.”

So I read it to her as she unwrapped the diaper from Johann’s bottom and put it aside while she wiped him clean and put on a new one for him.

She gave a relieved sigh when she was done, picking up the dirty diaper to dispose of it. “Oh, it stinks,” she giggled, leaning over to kiss Johann on the nose. “Stinky poopy baby.”

By then, Johann had fallen into a peaceful sleep, and as if they were telepathic, Mia was also asleep. I sat and watched them as Gabi washed her hands.

She smiled lovingly at them when she returned. “Let’s bring them upstairs,” she whispered.

So we brought them up the stairs, Johann in my arms and Mia in hers, and placed them in their blue and pink cots for the very first time. Stepping back, we stood and watched them as their chests rose and fell, as their lungs were getting used to taking in their own air, as their mouths fell open (just like Gabi’s!) and baby drool slowly dripped out of them.

“I can’t believe I’m a mum,” Gabi whispered after a long while.

“I can’t believe I’m a dad,” I whispered back.

“I feel like we’re still kids.”

“We’ll grow up with our kids, Gabi.”

“I love you.”

I smiled. After all these years, after all that we’d been through, it still warmed my heart when she said those words. Especially when it came unexpectedly.

“I love you too, baby,” I pulled her close to me and planted my lips on her head.

“We need another changing bed downstairs,” she said.

“We can get it delivered. We don’t have to leave them alone.”

“I was thinking I could go get it.”

“What?” I felt a little panic rise in me. “You’re going to leave me alone? With them? Two of them?”

She tilted her head upwards to look at me, and the look on my face must have reflected whatever I was feeling inside, because she burst out laughing. “It’s okay, we can get it delivered.”

“Don’t laugh at me, Gabi,” I tried to inject some indignation in my voice.

“You’re so cute,” she giggled.

“As cute as them?” I pointed to the twins.

She nodded and went over, picking up a handkerchief to wipe their drool. “You’re like them but without the drooling and pooping.”

“Can we go get some rest?” I asked. “They’re sleeping. We can finally be alone.”

“Toni, we’ve been alone for the past three days. The nurses have been taking care of them.”

“Gabiiiiiiiiiii,” I whined.

She burst out laughing, though softly, so she wouldn’t wake up the kids. “Okay, fine,” she whispered.

She grabbed my hand and led me to our room, where we could finally lie down together in the same bed in each other’s arms, without the fear of accidentally squishing Gabi’s tummy. The remaining bloatiness had not yet fully subsided, though, and Gabi was still a little puffy. She also had dark circles around her eyes and slightly swollen cheeks, and she just looked exhausted.

I let out a long sigh as she settled with my arm around her and her leg draped across me. “When am I going to get my reward for the 69-second brace?” I asked.

She smacked me on the chest. “My down under hasn’t recovered yet!”

“I’m kidding,” I laughed, moving her so that we were face-to-face. “Can I kiss your north pole till it’s all sore?” I whispered.

“Where’s that?” she asked.

I pressed my lips against hers and felt her smile against them. “Here.”

She laughed softly. “All sore?”

“All sore.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

She sighed as our lips met again, opening her mouth slightly and letting our tongues mingle. I turned so our fronts were pressed tightly against each other; in response, she pulled at the back of my neck, bringing me closer to her before moving her hands to run through my hair. We lay like that for a while, our lips pressed hard against each other’s and moving in unison, hands in each other’s hair, and feet tangled in a mess along with the sheets.

Her hand slowly slipped down and under my shirt, lifting it up so we were skin-to-skin with both our shirts riding up.

“Oh, Toni,” she breathed against my lips. “I’ve missed how this feels.”

“Me, too,” I whispered.

Her lips parted again as I moved down and cupped her butt, but before we could get any further, she pulled her face away from mine, leaving our bodies pressed together. “Let’s stop,” she panted.

I sighed and let my head fall back on the pillow. Gently, I smoothened her messy hair. “Okay.”

“I love you,” she said, still slightly breathless.

“I love you, too,” I smiled. “Are you tired? Do you want to sleep?”

She nodded, but she didn’t close her eyes. “Tell me all about your team first.”

“What do you want to know?”

She moved her hand to cup my cheek, her eyes reading mine with a look of nostalgia but with a hint of eagerness nonetheless. No doubt she wanted to know so she could understand my life at Real Madrid just like she did my life at Bayern.

“Everything,” she said softly.

So we lay there face to face as I told her every single thing I could remember about my first few days with Madrid and about winning my first trophy with them. I told her all the differences and all the similarities, and I told her all the bumps and roadblocks. It was unbelievable how much I’d run into in just my first few days there.

Gabi closed her eyes after a while, a smile still plastered on her face, so I asked softly, “Are you still awake?”

“Yeah, continue,” she whispered.

It was obvious how she was on the verge of falling asleep, but was keeping herself awake just so she could listen to my stories. A burst of emotion took over me, and I couldn’t stop myself from moving closer and giving her a hard kiss on the lips.

Her smile grew wider, and the corners of her eyes crinkled beautifully, but her eyes remained closed. She moved her hands to grab mine tightly. “Continue,” she said again.

So I continued, running my thumb in circles on the back of her hand as I spoke, until her grip relaxed and her slightly upturned mouth fell open – by now, I knew that meant that she’d fallen asleep.

Gently removing my hands from hers, I climbed off the bed and covered her with the sheets. “ _You’re_  the one who’s like them without the drooling and pooping,” I whispered.

We’d decided to leave the room door open so we could keep an eye on the nursery just opposite our room, so I didn’t close it. I crossed the hall and went to the two cots to watch the twins.

To my surprise, Mia was awake and staring into space, a confused look on her face. She startled when I appeared in front of her, before she closed her eyes and gave a yawn as far as her jaws would stretch.

“Hello,” I whispered. “You look just like your mummy. Although she says you both look like me, but I don’t see it.”

Evidently, she didn’t respond. I reached over and stroked her little chubby cheek with my finger, and as if that was a calming action, she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

With a day off and nothing else to do, I grabbed a chair and sat in front of them, resting my chin on the railings of their cots and smiling at them as they slept peacefully. Except for the thing with Johann’s dirty diapers earlier that day, these two didn’t seem to be of much trouble. But then again, they’d only been home for less than two hours.

I couldn’t help but start talking to them softly about Gabi, remembering the time that she’d spent the entire night talking to them about me. There were just so many things I wanted to tell them about her, even though they couldn’t understand.

Before long, it was evening, and the room had darkened. Gabi was still asleep. I turned on the lights, dimming them so they wouldn’t be afraid when they woke up.

Returning to their side, I saw that Mia was awake again, waving her arms and legs around like a distress signal. A yelp escaped her mouth – it was so loud for a tiny human like her.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, grabbing her gently and lifting her out of her cot as she continued waving her limbs around, her yelp turning into a shriek. “Shhhh, don’t wake mummy.”

I felt her bottom and saw that it was damp, evidence of her fresh bowel movements. “Awww, is that your poopoo?” I smiled, bringing her over to the changing table. “Daddy doesn’t know how to change your diaper, but I’ll try, okay?”

She shrieked again, leading me to hurry and grab a fresh diaper. Recalling the instructions I’d read to Gabi earlier in the day, I managed to wrap Mia up somewhat decently in her clean diaper.

“All clean,” I picked her up and waved her in the air. “Are you proud of daddy? I’m proud of daddy.”

She stretched her little arms out in front of her and clapped once, although I knew she didn’t understand a word I’d just said. Such an accommodating baby. I pressed her close to me and gave her a kiss on the nose. “Clever girl.”

Bringing her back to her cot, I saw that Johann was also awake now, although quiet. Just in case, I felt his bottom and was relieved to find it dry. He was staring at Mia intently as she was at him. A nurse had told us that newborns couldn’t see properly until about after a month, but these two looked like they were determined to prove her wrong. Amazed at their connection, I put Mia next to Johann in his cot.

As if it was rehearsed, they immediately hooked their arms together, even though they barely had the muscles to move significantly. Closing their eyes, they leaned their little heads against each other and drifted off to sleep again.

I heard slight movements from mine and Gabi’s room, before I felt Gabi shuffle her way over and stand beside me.

“Awwwww,” she whispered, gazing down at the twins. “Look at them. Did you put them like this?”

“No,” I whispered back. “I put her beside him and they did this by themselves.”

“Awwwww,” she said again, smiling. “They look so alike.”

“Gabi, they’re babies. All babies look alike.”

“No, these babies look like you.”

I rolled my eyes playfully. “Whatever, Gabi.”

She giggled softly and leaned over to kiss each of them on the head. “Night night, kids.”

“I changed Mia’s diaper,” I informed her proudly.

She burst out laughing. “Is that why it’s flipped around?”

I gaped at her, and then at Mia, in horror. “It is?” I squeaked.

“Yeah,” she continued laughing, pointing at their diapers. “See, the flowery stuff is supposed to be in front. Like Johann’s.”

“Oh,” I said. “Well, now she has a flowery butt, and that never hurt anyone.”

“So what does it mean if Johann has a flowery front?” she smirked at me.

I couldn’t help but burst out laughing loudly, and Gabi moved to shush me and put a hand over my mouth so we wouldn’t wake the babies up.

“That means he’s just like his dad,” I said, my voice muffled against her hand.

A huge cheeky grin split her face as she let go of my face and leaned in to kiss my lips. “I have to agree with that.”

She grabbed a chair and sat down beside me to watch them again. It was so exciting, having two new babies at home. To make a very appropriate comparison, we were like kids and they were our new toys. But unlike kids and their new toys, we would never get sick and tired of Mia and Johann, we would never throw them out, and we would love them forever.

Gabi’s POV

It was in the middle of the night when the twins were finally hungry. In the past few days in the hospital, the nurses had taught me how to breastfeed, but this was going to be first time I’d be doing it on my own.

Both Mia and Johann were whining and screeching incoherently waiting for their turn with my boobs, and Toni was trying his best to calm them down.

“Why are they both crying?” I took Johann from him. “Do I have to feed both at once?”

“I’d like to watch you try,” he said cheekily.

I rolled my eyes at him. “It hurts, you know? My boobs are sore.”

“Nice to know our kids can do what their father can.”

“Toni!” I yelled. “What is wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” he grinned. “Hurry, feed him.”

Feeling to see which side was lactating, I was pleasantly surprised to see that both sides were. “Give me Mia,” I stretched out my free hand once Johann was suckling happily. “Both are on.”

Eagerly, he handed Mia to me and sat across the dining table to watch me feed them. A loving smile was on his face, but it slowly opened into a cheeky, teethy grin, his eyes gleaming darkly.

“What?” I asked, rocking the twins gently.

He licked his lips pointedly. “Is it my turn next?”

“Your turn for what?”

He pointed at my boobs. “Those.”

“Toni!” I screeched, startling the twins, who bit down with their gums. “Ouch. How old are you?! You don’t need to have your lips around my breasts for  _any_  reason.”

“But I want to,” he pouted.

“No!” I said urgently.

“But I was here first,” he pouted even more. “I was here eight years before them. I want my share of the boobies.”

“Stop it!” I stood up and walked to the couch. “Don’t be such a pervert.”

“But you like me being a pervert,” he followed me over.

I laughed. It was hard to stay mad at Toni, especially when he was being jealous and throwing such an adorable tantrum. “Okay, fine, can we wait till my down under has recovered?”

A huge grin split his face. “Promise?”

“Promise,” I rolled my eyes playfully before puckering my lips. “Kiss me to close the deal.”

He sat down next to me and kissed me, his lips smiling eagerly against mine. By the time he pulled away, the twins were done and on the verge of falling back asleep. I handed one of them to Toni so we could burp them.

“Sleepy time after we change your diapers, okay?” I smiled. I couldn’t make out which twin I was holding, so I opened the diaper to check. “Oh, this is Mia.”

“What do you mean ‘oh, this is Mia?’” Toni burst out laughing. “You mean you couldn’t tell?”

“We have to make use of their different reproductive organs, okay?” I teased. “Oh, wait, that sounds so wrong.”

He laughed even more loudly. “Gabi!” he choked.

We were laughing and joking as we changed their diapers in between us, and by the time we were done, they’d fallen into yet another peaceful nap. Julius and Lennox trotted over from their little dog corner and climbed on the couch to peer at the twins curiously before curling up around them, seemingly wanting to protect them from whatever dogs thought were dangerous.

Toni and I looked at the formation of dogs and babies in between us and then back at each other, laughing softly. And then he broke out into yet another lullaby as I gazed over at him, thinking how wonderful it was that we weren’t going to drift apart or fight because of the kids, marvelling at how we could have so much fun looking after them together.

And not for the first time, I felt so, so lucky that a boy like Toni loved a girl like me.


	22. Meet the Twins

Toni’s POV

“Oh, that must be them!” Gabi exclaimed as the doorbell rang, standing up and clapping her hands excitedly. “Quick, let’s open the door,” she grabbed my arm and dragged me to the front door.

The twins were a month old on that day, and my parents, Gabi’s parents, Felix and Amelie were all coming over to visit. It was rare that they all got days off at the same time, so we were pretty excited about it.

“Heeey!” Amelie screeched as we opened the door. “How’s my little niece and nephew?”

“ _Our_  niece and nephew,” Felix corrected her.

Gabi laughed and ushered all of them up the stairs into the nursery. It was my family’s first time meeting the twins, and their excitement was written all over their faces.

“This is Johann,” Gabi picked him up and handed him to Felix. “And this is Mia,” she picked her up and handed her to my parents.

“Aww, he looks exactly like you!” Felix exclaimed, holding Johann up towards me for comparison. “Does that mean he looks like me, too?”

“Lemme see,” Gabi turned Felix around so all three of us were facing her. “Oh my God, he does!”

I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “Yeah, he looks like you when you were a baby,” I told Felix.

Felix beamed proudly at me and went over to join the little circle consisting of both our parents and Amelie, and of course little Mia in the centre of it all.

“Do you think they’ll get frightened?” Gabi asked me.

“Don’t worry, they’ll let us know by crying until the house falls apart.”

She laughed and took my hand gently as we stood and watched our families play with the twins. They weren’t old enough to respond fully or to see clearly past a short distance, but they did look like they were enjoying themselves. They weren’t crying, at least.

Even though it was supposed to be a “party” for the twins, we didn’t really have the time to actually prepare for a party, especially since I’d had to play a game the day before. Nevertheless, we’d planned to go out for a nice meal together. After they were all done cooing over my children, we put them in their twin pram and brought them out for lunch.

Gabi’s POV

Instead of Mia and Johann being entertained by our families, it was the other way around. Our families were  _very_  entertained by Johann and Mia. It was as if they’d never seen babies before.

Toni and I finally got them back by our side as we settled down for lunch at an outdoor table, which was the only table that could fit all eight of us plus two babies. Mia and Johann attracted the curious gazes of many passers-by, who stopped briefly to play with them and sometimes shake Toni’s hand. I felt rather overwhelmed by it all, so I just sat and fed them milk that I’d pumped into a bottle.

I’d been feeding Mia and Toni had been feeding Johann, but he eventually got too distracted by people randomly coming up to him for an autograph or picture, and he left the bottle of milk just sitting on the table. A little annoyed but not showing it on my face, I grabbed the bottle and started feeding Johann.

I’d been feeling a little irritable lately, but I didn’t want Toni to be upset or worried, so I didn’t tell him. I just spent every day by the babies’ side, because although their crying frustrated me sometimes, they made me so calm in other ways. I knew that Toni couldn’t be by my side 24/7, but I couldn’t help but wish he was.

Leaning over to feed Johann was doing things to my back, so I decided to carry him instead. However, just as I reached over and took him in my arms, I saw that he was lightly gripping something in his little hands.

It was Toni’s thumb.

He could barely grip anything, but he was grabbing on to Toni’s thumb for dear life. And Toni was talking animatedly to a passer-by, but his arm rested lazily on the pram and his hand on Johann’s chest. The sight of it brought a smile to my face, and I was stunned for a few moments, just sitting there and staring at that little act of recognition and love from Johann to Toni.

But Mia was fed, and Johann had to be fed too, so I attempted to carry Johann in my arms again. That meant that he would have to let go of Toni’s finger, so I tried removing Toni’s hand.

Apparently, Johann disagreed with that, because he started shrieking loudly and clawing the air in front of him once Toni’s hand wasn’t in his grip. Flustered, I put my thumb into his hands, and I was relieved when he initially seemed to calm down, but moments later he started shrieking again.

“Oh, shhhh,” I whispered, grabbing Toni’s hand and thrusting it into Johann’s grasp. Finally contented, he closed his eyes again and finally started drinking his milk.

I gave a relieved sigh and looked back in front only to see our families staring at me. I could tell they were curious, but there was also a loving look on their faces. “He wants his thumb,” I explained lamely.

“So cute,” Felix leaned over and jiggled Johann’s chubby cheek with his finger. “So picky.”

I let out a little laugh as I continued feeding him. The thought niggling at my mind was about Johann not wanting  _my_  thumb – I told myself not to take it so seriously, and that he was just a baby, but I couldn’t help but feel a little irrationally jealous.

Shaking my head to clear the negative thoughts, I smiled at Felix, and then at Johann, and focused on feeding and burping him and Mia.

Toni’s POV

Gabi had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout the afternoon – but then again I’d been preoccupied by all the random people talking to me and I wasn’t really paying much attention to her. I felt a little guilty, so I turned to see what was going on – only to see her gently removing my thumb from Johann’s grasp.

She smiled at me when she caught me staring. “He wouldn’t let go of it, but now he’s sleeping.”

“Aww, really?” I smiled. Again, I hadn’t really noticed. Both the twins were sleeping, and they looked so peaceful.

“Yeah,” she suddenly grabbed both of them and stood up. “I’ll go change their diapers.”

Before I could say another word, she grabbed two diapers and walked inside the restaurant and all the way to the baby changing room at the back. I looked at Felix helplessly, confused by her somewhat colder behaviour.

Felix was watching the entire scene intently. He scooted over into Gabi’s seat and asked me, “What’s up with you two?”

“Nothing’s up with us,” I told him. “That’s why this is confusing.”

“She looks tired. And upset.”

“She’s been busy with the babies.”

“What did that doctor in Germany tell you about her? Something about post-natal something.”

“Post-natal depression,” I finished. I’d almost forgotten that I’d told Felix about it.

“Is that it?” he asked.

I thought about it – she’d been quite moody over the past weeks, although she always tried to put a smile on her face. She was tired and grumpy. But despite it all, she tried her best to care for the twins. It was almost as if she was trying to make up for something.

“Do you think that’s it?” I asked him.

“Well, she looks kinda depressed,” he shrugged.

“You think so?” I asked again, and he nodded. “Should I go talk to her?”

He nodded, so I stood up and went to the baby changing room. I could hear her talking to the babies on the other side, but the sign on the outside said “no men allowed.”

Checking my surroundings and seeing that there was nobody around, I slid open the door, slipped inside, and closed the door gently.

I turned around only to see Gabi gaping at me in shock. “It says ‘no men allowed,’” she said.

I shrugged sheepishly. “I missed you.”

Those words brought a shy smile to her face. “Don’t be so mushy,” she giggled.

I watched as she went back to wrapping up Johann’s diaper – Mia was at the side, her eyes closed but waving her limbs around again. We’d decided to always change Johann first, because he would bring the entire place down with his wailing. Mia was quieter, and wouldn’t cry if her diaper was soiled. She would just wave her limbs around and yelp a little.

“All done,” she gave Johann two pats on his backside and passed him to me. He had slept through the entire diaper-changing session. I gently cradled him in my arms as I turned my focus back to Gabi.

I didn’t think she could look more tired than she did during the first few days after giving birth, but she did. Her eyes were almost buried under her dark circles, and they weren’t open fully. The usual bright blue joy in her eyes had been replaced by bright blue worry. Her forehead was wrinkled and her cheeks were so thin, her cheekbones were popping out again.

“Gabi,” I stopped her as she took Mia in her arms and proceeded to open the changing room door. “Are you okay?”

“I am,” she smiled, which just emphasized her tiredness in all the ways and convinced me that she  _wasn’t_  okay.

Knowing that she would disagree if I told her what I thought, I just leaned forward, lifted her chin and planted a soft kiss on her lips.

She was smiling when she pulled away, although a bit sadly. I walked behind her as she slid the door open and went back into the restaurant, wondering what exactly was up with her and how I could help. Fortunately, Felix and Amelie saved the day, as usual.

“We were thinking we could take the twins out for a while,” Felix told us as we sat down. “Maybe we’ll go sightseeing with them.”

“Yeah, and you two can have your alone time,” Amelie looked meaningfully at me, hoping I’d get the hint.

I nodded at them, but much to my horror, Gabi said, “Would that be a lot of trouble? I guess it’s fine, we can all go together. We’ll bring you around.”

“Baby, why not let them go?” I whispered. “It’ll be nice to spend some time alone.”

“But…what if they need us?”

“We brought extra milk, right? And diapers. Our parents know how to handle babies.”

She stared at me for a while, and then at Johann in my arms, and Mia in hers. Finally, she gave a sigh and a nod. She gave the twins a kiss each on their head before reluctantly passing them to our parents, who took them eagerly.

“Johann just cries when he needs a nappy change, and Mia just waves her arms and legs about like an upturned cockroach,” Gabi told them. “And they both just make kissy faces when they’re hungry.”

I never thought I’d see Amelie’s face soften, but on that day it did. She gazed over at the babies lovingly. “Awww, they’re so adorable,” she said softly, before clearing her throat. “I think that’s because they have some of my DNA in them too.”

Gabi rolled her eyes at Amelie. “Call us if anything happens, okay? Take care of my babies.”

We went over and gave them more kisses before our parents practically had to pry them away from us and put them in their pram. And then we watched a little sadly as their silhouettes faded down the street.

“I miss them already,” Gabi said to me.

I laughed. “Me, too. But now I have you all to myself,” I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted her in the air.

“Put me down!” she scolded. “How old are you? We’re not kids anymore.”

Somewhat shocked by her outburst, I quickly set her down on the ground. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Don’t be mad at me.”

She stuck her hands in her pockets, turned the other way, and started walking. “Let’s go!” she called as I just stood there staring at her.

I rushed after her and grabbed her hand. “Gabi, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she mumbled.

“No, Gabi, just talk to me. Is it me? Is it something I did?”

She shook her head, and we walked silently for a few minutes.

“Is it the babies?” I finally asked, a little hesitantly.

“No,” she whispered. “I just…I just feel so overwhelmed…by everything.”

We’d reached the park, and there were less people. I stopped her and turned her to face me. “What are you overwhelmed by?” I asked, smoothening her hair and tucking it behind her ear.

“Life,” she whispered, before suddenly bursting into tears. “Oh, do you think the babies are alright?”

Horrified but trying to stay as calm as I could, I pulled her over to the nearest empty bench. “Shhh, baby, of course they’re alright,” I wrapped my arms around her as she sobbed into my shoulder. “They’re with our family, remember?”

“Yeah,” she sobbed. “But I…I…oh, Toni.”

“What’s wrong?” I stroked her back gently, my heart slowly breaking with every word she said. “Talk to me, baby.”

“Do you think I’m a good mum?” she asked into my shirt.

“Of course you are, Gabi. Do you think you’re not?”

“I don’t know,” she wrapped her arms tightly around me. “There are two of them, and sometimes I…I feel like I don’t care for them enough. I don’t want them to grow up thinking that mummy loves the other twin more. But I…I can’t handle both of them at once. I wish I could. But I just…feel so overwhelmed. You see? I’m crying again. I can’t do anything but cry.”

“Oh, Gabi,” I whispered. “You’re a wonderful mum. I swear. And you spend all your time with them. There isn’t anything better any mother can do. Bonding with them and playing with them and doing the best you can for them. You’re amazing, baby, really.”

“Really?”

“Really,” I patted her hair. “I know it’s difficult, and I’m sorry I can’t always be by your side.”

To my surprise, she started crying again. “Oh, Toni. It was so fun the first few days when you were with me, but now…now you’re never around, and I wish it was just as fun when I’m alone, but it isn’t.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I hadn’t noticed how difficult it was for her, and I wanted to smack myself in the head. “I’m sorry I can’t be there all the time, baby.”

“Oh, no,” she sobbed. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “Gabi, it’s okay. You can tell me anything.”

“But you have to go, okay? You have to go and train super well, and play super well, and then we’ll all watch you and we’ll all be super proud of you.”

“Okay,” I kissed the top of her head. “I promise.”

“Oh, but do you really think I’m doing a good job?” she sniffed.

“You are, baby.”

“But Johann prefers you.”

“Really? How?”

“He was grabbing onto your thumb, and I gave him my thumb, but he ended up crying because he wanted yours.”

I burst out laughing, leading her to lift her head and stare at me, confused. “Oh, Gabi, are you jealous?”

“No!” she exclaimed, before her shoulders slumped over slightly. “Okay, a little.”

“Gabi, he’s just a baby! He doesn’t know anything. He probably preferred my thumb because it’s fatter than yours.”

“It is?” she put her thumb next to mine for comparison. “Oh, yeah, it is.”

“And he probably got mad because he was grabbing my fat thumb and you took it away and gave him a hard bony thumb,” I added.

She burst out laughing, making me do the same. I was just so happy to hear her laughter. “I just thought maybe…you know, that he would like my thumb since I’m around him all day.”

“Maybe that’s it. He wants a new thumb.”

She laughed again. “Oh, Toni. I just realised it shouldn’t matter that he likes your thumb so much, because you’re his dad. I feel so silly.”

“You are,” I poked her on the nose. “Don’t worry about the kids, Gabi. They’ll be just fine. Especially with a great mum like you.”

She smiled and wrapped her arms tightly around me. “Thank you,” she whispered into my neck.

“I love you, baby,” I kissed the back of her ear. “You know, you’ve lost a lot of weight.”

“I have?” she pulled away to examine her face, and then her waist. “No, I haven’t.”

“When was the last time you weighed yourself?”

“I don’t know,” she said softly. “I don’t want to. What if I’m really fat and heavy?”

“Gabi, you aren’t! You’re so thin, it hurts me to look at you.”

“Are you saying that just to make me feel better?”

“No!” I grabbed her and placed her on my lap. “You’re so light, too. Baby, you told me I could feed you for the rest of my life. And I will. But you’ve got to take care of yourself when I’m not around, okay? Please?”

“Okay,” she promised, smiling but tears slowly spilling out of her eyes. Suddenly, she reached over and hugged me tightly. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, baby. I’ll always be here for you, okay? We’ll always be in this together. Always.”

“Always always?” she asked.

I laughed. “Always always,” I whispered into her hair. In a bid to make her laugh again, I asked, “Do you think people will think the twins belong to Amelie and Felix?”

It was a success, because she burst out laughing, shaking the entire bench. And me, because she was still sitting in my lap. “Oh, that’d be so funny. Can you imagine the look on Amelie’s face?”

“She’ll probably stay away from the pram,” I told her.

“Or she’ll push Felix away from the pram because she wants to hog the babies.”

“Because everyone loves our babies,” I grinned.

She beamed proudly at me. “Yes, they do.”

“You have to tell me what’s going on, okay?” I pulled her closer and planted a kiss on her lips. “Everything. Don’t keep your troubles to yourself.”

“Okay,” she whispered, her voice trembling a little as she leaned her head on mine.

“And I’ll try to get home as quickly as I can after training, okay?”

“Really?” her voice was still trembling.

“Of course,” I smiled. “Why are you speaking like that?”

“Honestly?” she asked, and I nodded. “Well, I’m a little turned on right now.”

I burst out laughing in her face. “Why?!”

“You turn me on, duh. Your…thing is poking me. Your  _sun_.”

“Okay, so…do you want to walk it off or do you want to go home?”

Her eyes gleamed mischievously. “Go home,” she whispered.

She could barely contain her excitement, grabbing onto my hand tightly and giggling as we walked through the park quickly. She could barely wait, and to be honest, that was having an effect on me as well. She almost started running as we entered our street, dragging me along like she was an excited little kid.

I stopped and pulled on her arm so she would stop with me. The smile on her face faded a little as she gazed over at me. “What?” she asked.

I went over in front of her and bent over, beckoning her to climb on my back. “Up.”

The cheeky grin returned to her face as she pounced on my back, wrapping her arms and legs around me comfortably. “Onward!” she shrieked, giggling.

She kissed the back of my neck and laughed freely as I started walking quickly towards home, barely being able to wait until we finally, finally reached our house – rarely empty especially over the past month, but on that day belonging only to us two. 


	23. Just You And Me

Toni’s POV

I’d barely closed the front door when Gabi slipped her hands under my shirt, making me yelp in shock. She pinned me against the door as I turned around, eager to get things started.

“Gabi, wait,” I mumbled against her lips. “We have to tell Felix.”

“Tell Felix that we’re going to make love?” she smiled cheekily.

“No!” I pinched her nose. “Tell him to keep everyone away. I want you all to myself.”

“Hurry,” she watched impatiently as I typed out a text to Felix and sent it. Grabbing my phone from me, she threw it on the couch and dragged me towards the stairs.

Before she could start climbing them, though, I grabbed her and scooped her into my arms to carry her up the stairs. “Do I get the boobies now?” I mumbled as she leaned over to kiss me again.

“You get everything,” she whispered.

“Everything?”

“Yes, everything,” she beamed at me as we entered the room and I placed her gently on the bed. Before I could do anything else, she pulled me down on top of her. “Let’s go,” she whispered.

She was gazing at me with the most loving, eager look in her eyes, and I couldn’t help but move and press my lips gently against hers. As expected, she had other ideas. She pulled me again so I fell on top of her, and then she rolled over so she was on top.

“If you won’t take me, I’m going to take you,” she whispered.

“Oh, baby, you could do anything to me and I wouldn’t stop you.”

“If you say so,” she smiled. Her hands slipped under my shirt and she leaned forward to put her lips on mine, opening them with her tongue and letting it mingle with mine. Slowly, teasingly, she moved up my shirt, unbuttoning each button one by one until she reached the top.

Gabi’s POV

“Ta-da!” I exclaimed as I finished unbuttoning Toni’s shirt and opened it to reveal his bare chest.

Laughing, he grabbed the back of my neck and pulled my face down so he could kiss me again. “Any more magic tricks, Mrs. Kroos?” he mumbled.

I moved so our parts were aligned. “I can make it rain,” I whispered. “Inside me.”

“I can’t wait,” he whispered, his hands slipping inside my t-shirt and pulling it off above my head.

I could feel his erection under his jeans as he rubbed it suggestively against me. And then, the pieces of denim between us seemed too much to handle. With our lips still locked together, I moved downwards to unbuckle his belt and unzip his jeans.

Once he was done wriggling out of his pants, he rolled over and pinned me under him. He gave me another peck on the lips before he moved south, down the side of my neck, my collarbones; and then my belly button, making me arch my back off the bed in anticipation. Reaching over behind me, he unhooked my bra and slipped it off my shoulders.

My breasts were all sore from feeding the twins, but his touch aroused them once again. He slowly traced a line back up my abdomen with his nose until he reached them; and then, eyeing me pointedly, he surrounded one with his lips. He sucked on it gently, his tongue swirling around, leading me to mirror his actions by sucking in a huge breath of air myself.

I could barely take it anymore when he moved to the second one. I wriggled uncontrollably beneath him; I was so turned on, but my pants weren’t even off yet. Once he was done doing whatever magic he was doing with his tongue and lips, I was breathless.

“You taste good,” he mumbled as he moved back down south, his voice vibrating against my bare skin.

“What do you mean?” I whispered, before my eyes shot open. “You mean there’s…milk?”

“Shhh,” I felt him smile against me. “You’re delicious.”

Reaching the waistband of my jeans, he stopped and hooked his fingers in it. I thought he was going to move to unbutton them, but he had other ideas.

“See how thin you are?” he asked, gently stroking the skin just beneath the waistband. Suddenly, in one swift move, he yanked my jeans downwards – they slid past my hips and down my legs smoothly. They were my pre-pregnant jeans, and they weren’t even unbuttoned or unzipped.

With a sad smile on his face, Toni pulled them off my feet and returned to do the same to my panties. And then his lips returned to my skin again, this time against my protruding hip bones. He kissed each one in turn, and then his lips hovered over my C-section scar as he glanced up at me.

I wasn’t ashamed of that scar at all; I just thought that he would rather not see it. However, again, he managed to make me feel much better by planting his lips gently on it.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered against my skin, and the smile on my face had barely finished forming when he’d moved right down and plunged his tongue deep into me. Oh, Toni, managing to make every romantic moment an erotic one.

Desperately needing something to hold on to, I raised my arms and grabbed the top of the headboard, my hips moving to the same rhythm as Toni’s lips and tongue as he poked and prodded gently and sensually. Soon, I was on the verge, so, so close…so close to being tipped over the edge.

“Toni,” I moaned, my hands moving frantically to find his hair.

As usual, he knew the effect he had on me, so he lifted his head and asked breathlessly, “You want it like this?”

“No,” I whispered, my hands finally finding the back of his head. I was so weak with arousal, I could barely move, but I mustered all the strength I could to pull him face-to-face. “You and me. Together.”

He smiled a loving, passionate smile, and kissed my head gently.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you, too,” I smiled as I pulled his lips against mine. “Now take me.”

It was almost electrifying as he entered me, and he responded the same way as I did by hissing in a deep breath of air with his teeth clenched. I knew he’d been waiting for this, but I never expected myself to want it just as much.

“Oh, baby,” he groaned sensually as he grabbed my thighs and wrapped them around his waist. His forearms rested on either side of my head, his hands moving to grab the sides of my head and keep it still while he plunged his tongue deep into my mouth.

My own hands moved under his arms and across his exquisitely well-toned back, pulling him down and closer to me so our skins, slick with sweat, were pressed hard against each other.

I could feel it building up within me once again as my hips moved up to meet his, and I couldn’t help but let out a little shiver and bite down hard on his lower lip. Equally caught in passion, he lined a trail of kisses down the side of my chin and rested his face in the crook of my neck.

And in sync just as we always were, he pushed a few more times, harder and deeper, just as I arched my back again to press my hips against his. Finally, it happened.

Wave after wave hit me, never slowing down, never seeming to stop. I was practically convulsing in Toni’s arms as he mumbled incoherently into my ear and emptied himself into me. It was a glorious, magical feeling, and I vaguely noticed myself wrapping my arms more tightly around Toni, basking in the wonderful moment, relishing his skin against mine and the powerful feeling rocking my entire body.

It left me breathless, lying there under the weight of his body yet not feeling a thing, breathing heavily into his shoulder.

“You okay?” he asked, breathless himself.

“Oh, Toni,” I whispered.

I felt him smile as he kissed the back of my ear. “I love you,” he said.

“I love you too, baby,” I hooked my legs in his, like he was a tree and I was a koala bear, except we were lying down.

“Are you going to let me go?” he asked.

“No,” I sighed and rested my cheek on his shoulder. “I feel complete now. It’s like you’re the last piece of the puzzle that is my body.”

Toni’s POV

I couldn’t help but smile at the words coming out of Gabi’s mouth. She could rarely express herself, which made me treasure little moments like these and the little mushy (although uniquely so) things she said.

Still inside her as she wished, I rolled over to my side and grabbed her face in my hands. As I was moving to kiss her lips, I saw a trace of red spots down the side of her chin.

Wiping it off with my fingers, I suddenly remembered that I’d kissed her there, so I asked, “Is my lip bleeding?”

She tilted my chin upwards for a better look. “Oh, yeah,” she wiped my lip with her thumb before starting to giggle. “Now you know how hard I can bite.”

I poked her on the nose. “Thanks for the gift.”

She giggled again. “Does it hurt?” she asked.

“Yeah, but you can make it better,” I puckered my lips.

She rolled her eyes playfully before leaning in and surrounding my bottom lip with her beautiful, soft ones. She sucked on it softly in an attempt to stop the bleeding. “Better?” she asked.

I nodded. “You make everything better, baby.”

She smiled. “I’m sorry for hurting you.”

“It’s okay, I know you hurt me because you love me.”

She grinned. “That is right!” she gave me another kiss on my nose before moving and finally releasing me from her.

“Do you feel incomplete now?” I teased.

She frowned teasingly. “I do.”

“Wanna do it again?” I wrapped an arm around her waist.

“No! You’re going to make me all sore.”

“Oh, Gabi, I finally got the boobies.”

She smacked me on the shoulder. “Did you really taste it?”

I grinned at her. “I did. It’s delicious. Now I get what’s the deal with Mia and Johann wanting your boobies all the time.”

She gave a resigned sigh and rolled over to face the ceiling. Suddenly, a giggle escaped her mouth again, before it turned into a laugh.

“What?” I asked, amused at her self-amusement.

“I just realised this is the first time we’ve done it on this bed.”

I couldn’t help but reflect her playful grin. “Was it worth a first time?”

She smiled and turned back to face me. Her hands moved slowly down my cheeks. “Of course it was,” she whispered. “I love you so much, Toni.”

“I love you too, Gabriele,” I pressed her face into my neck.

We lay there in each other’s embrace for a while, before Gabi suddenly pulled away – pulling the sheets along with her and wrapping them around herself, leaving me naked and exposed on the bed. “Gotta prepare dinner!” she giggled like a child as she dragged the sheets downstairs with her.

I rolled my eyes playfully at her, even though she couldn’t see me, and picked up my jeans and underwear to put them back on – before realising that we were in our own house. I walked over to the closet and took out a fresh suit of clothes for myself and for Gabi before going to join her in the kitchen.

I went downstairs only to see Gabi prancing around in tune to the song on the radio, the sheets still flowing out behind her. Laughing to myself, I set the clothes on the kitchen counter and went over to grab her from the back, wrapping my arms around her waist. “What’s for dinner?”

She smiled. “What do you want for dinner?”

“You,” I whispered into her hair.

She nudged me with her backside. “Steak sounds good? For the others?”

“They get steak, I get you?”

“You’ll always have me,” she smiled again.

“Okay, then steak,” I grinned. “Come on, put some clothes on.”

She put on the underwear, t-shirt and shorts that I’d brought for her before asking me, “How’s your lip?”

“How does it look?” I asked.

“It’s a little dried up now,” she said, examining it closely.

“I think your kiss of life worked.”

“Really?”

“Yes, baby. Your kisses are the best medicine.”

She giggled. “If you say so, Doctor Kroos. Do you need a white doctor’s coat?” she picked up the sheets which had fallen on the ground and wrapped them around my shoulders. “You look more like a doctor this way.”

“Thank you,” I gave her a little bow, turned and walked grandly into the living room as she laughed and went on with the dinner business. Checking my phone, I saw two texts from Felix.

“Getting laid in the middle of the day? Not bad.”

“WARNING: We’re reaching your place in fifteen minutes. Better get dressed. Hope you don’t smell like sex.”

I rolled my eyes and put the phone down on the coffee table. Grabbing the bag of dog food, I filled Julius and Lennox’s bowls before bringing the sheets back upstairs and making the bed. If I were to be honest, the house was too quiet without the twins around.

I’d just wandered back downstairs when the doorbell rang – and on the other side of the door was mine and Gabi’s families, bustling and chatting and making a whole lot of noise.

“Hey,” Gabi suddenly appeared by my side, her hair tied into a bun. “How was sightseeing?”

I glanced at her and immediately knew that she wasn’t asking what was in her head, which was “How are my babies?” So I asked it for her.

“Did the twins give you any trouble?” I asked discreetly, and Gabi smiled knowingly to herself.

“No, they were the most obedient babies ever,” my mum beamed as she pushed the pram through the front door. Both of them were just lying there quietly, gazing peacefully into space.

“Really?” Gabi smiled lovingly, reaching over and picking Mia up. “Have you been a good girl?” she asked, and all Mia did was smack her in the face. “Mummy is so proud.”

She picked Johann up and brought them both to the dining table, setting them down in their baby chairs before she returned to the kitchen. I made the party sit around with them and joined Gabi in the kitchen to help her with the food.

She was all smiles for the rest of the night, a welcome contrast to her mood earlier that day. She chatted with our parents happily as Felix nudged me and waggled his eyebrows suggestively at me.

“How was it?” he asked.

“How was what?!” I asked, shocked at his nerve.

“You know what,” he grinned, reaching over and nudging me on the lip. “I can see the evidence.”

“Shut up, Felix!” I whispered urgently.

“Well, I did what you told me to, you know?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“I’m such a great wingman.”

I rolled my eyes as he continued nudging me, but fortunately he quickly moved on to how much fun they all had sightseeing in Madrid. And just as we’d expected, many passers-by thought that the twins belonged to him and Amelie.

I couldn’t help but keep my gaze on Gabi as I listened to him speak, even though we were only separated by the twins in their high chairs. She was just mesmerising. She was smiling and laughing, cradling each of the twins in her arms in turn, and eating her steak when her hands were free. She was finally eating again – albeit after making everybody cut their steaks at the other end of the table and putting their knives away so they wouldn’t accidentally stab Mia and Johann.

When the twins were fed, we put them to bed upstairs and returned to join the rest of the party, this time with her sitting right beside me. Discreetly, her hand slipped over to grab mine and rested on my lap lazily – and from that point onwards, whatever Felix was telling me just went in one ear and out the other. I was completely, peacefully immersed in the beauty that was my wife, and I was never going to get tired of the feelings she gave me.


	24. Lucky Stars

Gabi’s POV

“Postpartum blues,” Toni suddenly barged into the bathroom where I was bathing Mia and Johann. “You were having postpartum blues.”

“What?” I asked, cleaning out Johann’s ear, which I’d accidentally splashed water in when Toni had started yelling and given me a shock. “What’s that? Can it be eaten?”

“No!” he exclaimed, exasperated. “I called Dr. Gerber and asked her about you and I told her whatever you told me about what you were feeling.”

“But I’m fine!”

“Yes, baby, I know you’re fine now, but I just wanted to know what it was and if it will come back.”

“So will it come back?”

“Thankfully, no. It’s supposed to last only for a few weeks.”

“How do you know it’s not depression or whatever?” I asked.

A cheeky grin split his face. “Because postpartum depression involves a lower sex drive.”

I shook my head as I felt a blush creep across my cheeks. “Toni!”

He laughed, suddenly reaching over and giving me a wet kiss on the lips. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah, dry Johann,” I took him out of the little plastic bath and put him next to the sink, where there were a few layers of towels.

He took Johann and wrapped him up in a bundle of towels, rubbing gently so he’d be dry. I brought the other bath containing Mia to the other side of the sink so I could watch them.

“All done,” Toni beamed at Johann as he wrapped up his diaper and buttoned his onesie. He grabbed Johann by his underarms and supported him as he stood on the counter. “Handsome boy.”

In response, Johann gave a loud screech and grinned at Toni, showing his gums. Suddenly, without any warning at all, Toni tossed him a couple of feet in the air before catching him as he fell back down, giggling.

“TONI!” I shrieked, startling Mia, who started splashing water at me. “What the hell are you doing?”

“He likes it!” Toni smiled lovingly at Johann, who was still giggling and pointing up, wanting to go again.

“It’s so dangerous! Stop it!”

He turned Johann and himself to face me, making a pouty face and shaking Johann. “But he wants another one. Right, Johann? Tell mummy you want another one.”

Johann just continued pointing up and looking at Toni expectantly, so I rolled my eyes in resignation. “Fine, but not too high! And make sure you catch him!”

The grin returned to Toni’s face as he turned back to Johann. “Ready?” he asked, before tossing Johann in the air again. My heart almost popped out of my chest as I watched, but Toni managed to catch him safely again. He was laughing happily as he returned to earth, and Toni put him on his tummy on the carpet outside the bathroom, where he lay contented and at rest with his little rubber ducky to accompany him.

I rolled my eyes at Toni’s cheeky face as he returned to help me with Mia. “Are you angry with me?” he asked. “Don’t be mad. I’ll always catch them.”

“It’s so scary, Toni.”

“Trust me, baby. I’ll always have them.”

I sighed and turned back to Mia, who was looking at me expectantly. Toni moved beside me and started washing the back of her ears as I washed her little feet, but she just continued staring at me until I booped her on the nose and asked, “What is it, baby?”

She splashed the water a few times when we stopped washing her, before yelping loudly and pointing at the ceiling like Johann did earlier, and opening her arms for us to carry her up.

“Oh, no,” I groaned. “Now she wants it, too.”

Toni grinned as he started washing the last of the soap suds out of her little brown curls before eagerly carrying her over to the towel bundle and drying her while I watched helplessly. He quickly put on a diaper – he was getting better at that – and wrapped her up in her onesie, and then he was preparing to toss her in the air.

“Be careful, baby,” I said, resigned.

“I will,” he smiled at me reassuringly before turning back to Mia. “Ready?” he asked, and she yelped and clawed at his face.

He lifted her to her feet and tossed her in the air as she giggled and flailed around excitedly, and my heart followed her up into the air and back down, returning to its original position in my chest as she landed safely in Toni’s arms. “You liked that?” he asked her.

She waved her arms around again, and I told Toni jokingly, “You should give her two, since you gave Johann two, so she won’t be jealous.”

To my horror, Toni didn’t catch the sarcasm in my voice, and before I could say anything else, he’d thrown and caught her for a second time. I stood there, open-mouthed, as he tucked her under his arm and scooped Johann up before charging down the hall and making engine noises as the children giggled happily.

Shaking my head and trying to stop my heart from racing, I turned back to the two plastic baths and emptied them into the sink. By the time I’d put everything nicely aside, Toni had returned and was popping his head around the corner of the bathroom door, peering hesitantly at me.

“Are you mad at me?” he asked timidly.

I couldn’t help but smile at how frightened he was. “No, baby, I’m not.”

“Really?” he asked, stepping in and resting his hands on my waist. “Give me a smile.”

I put on the most genuine smile I could, flashing all my teeth at him. Laughing, he leaned in and kissed my nose.

“I got these for the twins,” he said, letting go of my waist and reaching behind his back to pull out two little jerseys which were tucked into his pants – the Real Madrid away and third kit, the pink one for Mia and the black one for Johann, I assumed.

They were adorable. I grabbed them from him and examined them. They had his name and number on the back, and they were just the right size for the twins. “Awww, they’re so cute!” I exclaimed. “Oh, they’ll look so adorable in these.”

“I know, right?” he grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the bathroom and into the nursery. The twins were on their tummies on the floor, playing with their soft toys and each other.

Sitting down next to them, we each grabbed one twin and one jersey to try them on – and they fit wonderfully. They were a little too big, with the sleeves running a little below the elbows, but the babies would grow into them. Mia looked so girly and pretty in her pink one, and Johann looked like a handsome young man in the black one. We put them next to each other on their backs on the floor and observed them as they clawed first at the air, and then turned to the side to claw at each other.

“Oh, I love them,” I told Toni, who reached over and tickled their tummies before suddenly standing up and running across to our room. He returned a few moments later with a Real Madrid home jersey in my size.

“For you,” he beamed.

“You got them in all the colours?” I laughed, examining the shirt. “Thank you, baby.”

“Try it on,” he said eagerly.

So I took off the shirt I was wearing and tried on the white one Toni had just handed me. I picked up the twins and put them on my lap. “How do we look?”

He smiled lovingly and leaned over to give the three of us a kiss each. “You look perfect. My perfect family.”

“Can we wear these to your matches?” I asked.

He perked up immediately. We’d never mentioned about me going to matches because of the twins and also because he knew I didn’t support Real Madrid. Or at least, not yet.  

“You’ll come to my matches?” he asked.

“Of course we will, silly,” I smiled. “I think I can handle these two by myself.”

“What about this Saturday?” he sat back down and took Mia from me. “Do you need someone to come with you?”

“I’ll be fine, baby,” I stuck my thumb in Johann’s mouth and let him chew on it to sooth his gums. “Saturday sounds great.”

He smiled and did the same to Mia, as she grabbed eagerly onto his hand and refused to let go. Drool was spilling out of her mouth, but neither she nor Toni seemed to care. Her dark brown hair matched the pink shirt perfectly, just as Johann’s blonde hair matched the black kit. The twins had a perfect mix of me and Toni – Mia had my brown hair and Toni’s seawater eyes, and Johann had Toni’s blonde hair and my blue eyes. They probably matched better on them than on me. Other than their different hair and eye colours, though, the babies looked exactly the same. Toni and I loved squishing their cheeks and hearing them giggle.

“Thanks, Gabi,” Toni said softly as he watched Mia.

“For what?” I asked, confused.

“For coming to the match,” he said, without looking at me. “For moving to Madrid. For being my wife. For giving me these beautiful children.” He looked up and met my gaze. “For everything, Gabriele.”

“Hey,” I scooted over closer to him with Johann in my lap. “Don’t thank me, okay? I love doing things for you.”

He leaned over the twins and hugged me tightly. “You mean so much to me, Gabi.”

I smiled, leaning my cheek on his shoulder and kissing the side of his neck. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” he whispered. “Oh, I can’t believe I had the luck to meet you.”

“I can’t believe  _I_  had the luck to meet  _you_ ,” I said.

“I could hug you forever.”

I laughed. “Don’t go all mushy on me, Toni.”

“I know you just wiped Johann’s drool on the back of my shirt.”

“Whoops,” I giggled. “But I know you didn’t wipe Mia’s on mine because it’s your jersey.”

“That is right,” he pulled away and grinned. “I’m going to wipe it on your shorts instead.”

I gasped. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“I would,” he put Mia down on the ground at the same time as I did Johann, and the both of us stood up, preparing to run.

Fortunately for me, Mia suddenly grabbed his big toe and refused to let go. Squealing with excitement, I wriggled past Toni and out the door before he could grab me. “Thanks, Mia baby!” I yelled.

“No, no, stop,” I heard Toni saying to Mia. “Play with your brother, okay?”

Shortly after, his footsteps pounded out of the room and down the stairs after me. I stood behind the dining table, grinning at him. With a naughty smile on his face, he walked slowly towards me.

When it was just the dining table left separating us, I darted across the living room and to the couch – but Toni, on his quick feet, caught up with me before I got there and tackled me so we both landed on the couch with him on top.

“Gotcha,” he whispered, grinning.

“I bet the drool dried up already, slowpoke.”

He looked at his thumb, his face falling slightly. “Oh, yeah,” he said, before he suddenly started tickling my sides. “Guess we’ll have to find another punishment then.”

I squirmed and wriggled around uncontrollably under him, but he refused to stop, laughing at my reaction as I screeched at the top of my lungs while laughing along with him.

“Stop!” I yelled at him, but he refused to. In a sudden moment of brilliance, I managed to grab the back of his neck and pull his face down so our lips met.

He immediately stopped, and his hands travelled north until they landed on my face. His lips turned up into a smile as they started moving more urgently.

“You know how I work, don’t you?” he mumbled against my lips.

“That’s my proudest achievement,” I whispered.

He smiled a little wider and extended his tongue in between my lips, letting me suck gently on it for a few moments. His body went slack over mine, resting suggestively on me – and I knew for sure what was coming next, so I pulled away.

“Don’t you dare,” I told him.

“Maybe when the children are asleep,” he said, waggling his eyebrows at me.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Get up, let’s go back to them.”

He took my hand as we skipped up the stairs and back into the nursery – only to see the twins being aptly entertained by Julius and Lennox, who had surrounded them again and were licking their little faces and hands as they giggled with joy.

“Aww, the dogs love them as much as we do,” Toni said.

I laughed. “I like how we’re all in pairs.”

He leaned over and kissed the top of my head. “Me, too,” he whispered.

I dragged him over and sat down next to the little congregation of dogs and babies, and we entertained ourselves by watching them being entertained by each other. Even though Toni spoiling the babies got on my nerves sometimes, it was a nice feeling to see him try to help me despite his busy schedule. I felt so lucky to have my little family – Toni, the twins, and the dogs – and I would never trade them for anything else in the entire world.

——

Thankfully, the twins didn’t howl loudly and scare all the people in the VIP room in the Bernabeu, and they were suitably entertained by the view when I brought them over to a window seat. Being only a little less than three months old, they couldn’t stand up on their own, so I supported them on my thighs.

Their eyesight wasn’t good enough yet to see the field from where we were, but they started shrieking when Toni slid the ball into the net for his first goal at the club – it was probably only because I started screaming myself and attracting judgemental looks from all the people watching the match around me.

“Oh, look,” I told them excitedly, grabbing their hands and pointing out at the pitch. “That’s daddy.”

Obviously, they didn’t understand, so they just eagerly grabbed my fingers and stuck them in their mouths to sooth their teething gums. Smiling at the both of them and their quirky needs, I just continued gazing out the window at my wonderful, talented husband. Of course, I couldn’t cry, not with all the people that I didn’t know sitting around. But I was so, so happy, and I was so proud. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t for my team – it was for  _Toni’s_  team, and that was all that mattered.

A few minutes later, I felt the twins’ bottoms and saw that they were wet, so I headed to the changing room – but the one in the VIP box was under repair, so I made my way down to the common toilet.

I was busy changing their diapers on the changing table near the sink when I heard two girls behind me speaking in Spanish about Toni – of course, I wasn’t really fluent in Spanish yet and I only knew because they said his name. I turned a little and saw that they were just teenage girls, maybe eleven or twelve years old, and they were obviously gushing over Toni and his goal.

They paused when they saw me in the Kroos jersey, and made their way over just as I finished wrapping the twins up in their fresh diapers. One of them, with brown hair like mine, asked me something in Spanish. I just stared at her, confused, until she asked me in English, “Are you a Toni Kroos fan too?”

I smiled politely. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“Isn’t he just gorgeous?” the other one, a blonde, clasped her hands to her chest with a dreamy look in her eyes.

“Uhhh,” I tried desperately to keep my jaw from falling to the ground. “Yeah, he is.”

“I wonder if he has a girlfriend,” she continued. “I hope not.”

“I  _sure_  hope not,” I muttered.

“Did you see his goal?” the brunette one asked no one in particular. “It was so great. Are you googling for his girlfriend? Even if he doesn’t have one, what makes you think he’ll look at  _you_?”

“He just joined us! It’s time for us to do some research, gurl.”

By then, I’d turned back to the babies on the changing table, frantically trying to stifle my giggles. From the mirror, I saw them finally find a photo of his “girlfriend” on their phone, before clicking on it and examining it thoroughly.

“Oh, my God, she’s so pretty,” the blonde one said. “We don’t stand a chance.”

“She looks so familiar,” the brown-haired one said thoughtfully.

I took that as my cue, so I grabbed the twins and turned around to face them. “See you around,” I told them, trying to keep the smirk off my face, before turning and walking out of the washroom.

There was a frightened pause, and then I saw their mouths drop open from the corner of my eye.

“Oh, my God,” one of them said in a Spanish whisper, scrolling down a webpage with a horrified look on her face. “That’s her. That’s his wife. With their twins.”

There was another pause before one smacked the other on the arm. “That was so embarrassing!”

I burst out laughing as the restroom door closed behind me, shutting out their frantic whispers and gasps. I looked at Mia and Johann, who were straddled on my arms and staring curiously at the people around them. “Well, that was fun, wasn’t it?” I asked them.

They just kicked around a little with their feet, beckoning me to bring them back to the comfortable VIP room, so I did – all the while not being able to wipe the cheeky smile off my face. Oh, my Toni, so gorgeous and so talented. It was no wonder he had so many female fans. And yet there I was, married to him and carrying his kids. Not only did I feel so proud and so honoured, I felt so happy to have him in my life.

Toni’s POV

There was a huge cheeky grin on Gabi’s face as she met me outside our car. The twins were buckled up safely and sleeping in their little chairs in the backseat.

“What?” I asked her as she continued grinning at me.

“I had a very interesting discussion with two teenage girls about whether you have a girlfriend.”

“What?” I asked again, shocked. “Well, what was your conclusion?”

“That  _I’m_   _your wife_ ,” she said adamantly. “Well, it was funny when they realised they were talking to his wife.”

I burst out laughing. “You’re such a bully.”

“They were gushing over you!” she said, slipping into the driver’s seat. She’d been getting better at handling the car headlights, especially when she was driving. “You should have seen them. They were totally in  _lurrrrrrrrrrrrve_  with you. And your goal. Well, I can’t blame them, I was in love with your goal, too.”

“Awww,” I smiled at her enthusiastic account. “Did the kids give you any trouble?”

“No,” she smiled back at me. “Congrats on your goal, baby.”

“Thank you,” I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek before I lay back on the headrest and closed my eyes, trying to relax after the massive win and after my first goal. I was so glad that Gabi had been there to watch, and for yet another time, I felt so lucky to have her by my side.

“We’re here,” she said as she pulled into our driveway. The ride had passed in the blink of an eye.

I opened my eyes and turned to her. She smiled at me lovingly, her eyes still glowing with amusement and with joy.

I wasn’t going to be superstitious, but I remembered every time that I’d talked to her before a match, and every time that she was there to watch me play – at Bayern, in Leverkusen, and even in Brazil during the World Cup. And now in Madrid. Every single time she was there, I’d scored, made a goal or won the match. Gabi was my lucky star. She had always been, and she would always be.

Suddenly overcome by a rush of emotion, I reached over, grabbed the back of her head, and pulled her close to me so I could kiss her.

“Thank you, baby,” I whispered against her lips. “You’re my lucky star. After all these years and all these teams, you’re still my lucky star. And now the twins are, too. Now it’s all three of you. I’m the luckiest man alive.”

She smiled. “I love you so much, Toni.”

“I love you, too,” I wrapped my arms around her tightly, too overwhelmed to speak any more. “I love you so much, Gabriele.”


	25. Home

Gabi’s POV

I was completely exhausted when we reached our old street in Munich. We were back here for the winter holidays, even though I was worried that it would be a little weird if he was spotted here. But it didn’t seem to bother him much. Knowing Toni, he must have had something up his sleeve.

Toni was being all fidgety and mysterious as we approached our old homes. It was midday, and although it was chilly, the sun was out. I stood outside Toni’s place and gazed up at the windows, at the familiar windows I used to look at from the other side, and the familiar windows I would look out from.

I knelt down on the ground beside Johann and Mia’s pram. “This is home,” I whispered to them. “This is where mummy met daddy.”

They just gazed back at me calmly, evidently not understanding a word I’d just said. Smiling, I leaned over to give them a kiss each and adjust their dainty little beanies, red for Mia and yellow for Johann. They even had matching mittens of the same colour, and they really liked to warm their own faces with them.

I checked my surroundings and saw that Toni was at the door, preparing to enter – thankfully, for I didn’t want him to overhear me and think that I was still brooding over Munich. I still wished that we hadn’t had to leave, but it didn’t matter so much to me as long as Toni could do his thing. Besides, he knew that Munich would always be my home, and thus the twins’ half-home.

“Ready?” he cocked his head to the side as he held on to the doorknob with one hand and carried the beagles’ kennel with the other.

“Why should I be ready?” I asked him, suspicious of how secretive he was being.

“Ummm,” he paused. “Because it might be cold and dusty…and…yeah.”

I smirked at him, knowing there was something up his sleeve, but he just rolled his eyes at me and opened the door.

“SURPRISE!” a chorus of voices rang out, with Amelie and my parents leading right at the front. Literally  _everybody_  was there. Felix, Josef, Eva, Louise, and even Elisa and Bertha. And Toni’s ex-teammates. His  _Bayern teammates._ Manuel, Thomas, Bastian, Mario – everybody was there.

“Oh, my God,” I whispered, my mouth open in horror and surprise and fascination all rolled into one. Even though I knew Toni was up to something, it never occurred to me that it would involve so many people.

Toni grinned at me proudly. “I hope you like it.”

“Are we having a party?” I asked, and he nodded. “Oh, Toni!”

He laughed and leaned over to kiss the top of my head as the rest of the people looked on. And laughed, possibly at how shocked I was. “Close your mouth, baby,” he mumbled into my ear.

I snapped my mouth shut and wheeled the babies into the living room as calmly as I could. As expected, everyone started crowding around them, cooing at them, pinching their cheeks, trying to make them talk, and grabbing their little chubby hands. Toni and I were left at the side, all the attention going to our twins.

“They were born to be famous,” Toni beamed at the crowd lovingly as he held my hand.

“How did you do this?” I asked.

He turned his smile to me. “You like?”

“It’s awesome!” I exclaimed.

“Your parents helped, and Amelie,” he said. “I thought you’d like to see your favourite players again.”

“But…isn’t it weird? Will it be awkward?”

“Most of them are my Germany teammates, anyway,” he shrugged. “And as long as you’re happy.”

I turned and hugged him tightly, taking him by surprise and almost knocking him over. “Thank you,” I whispered. “Thank you so much.”

He smiled against my hair. “Come on, I have something else to show you,” he said, grabbing my hand and the dog kennel, leading us upstairs. He let the dogs out in our room, making sure that they wouldn’t go downstairs near my dad, who was allergic. He opened the wardrobe and took out a white clothing bag to hand to me.

“Open it and see if you like it,” he urged, so I unzipped the translucent bag and opened it.

It was my wedding dress. Except it wasn’t.

It was a much smaller version of the wedding dress that I wore. It was altered to be much smaller, and to fit me right then. But it was the exact same design – the strapless lace top, organza mermaid tail starting at the thigh, and a laced corset back.

“Where did you get this?” I whispered.

“I called the shop and asked them to make another one.”

“Why?”

“Remember when you asked me if I wanted a slim bride?” he asked. “I think maybe…maybe you want it more than I do. And if you want to have another ceremony, then we will.”

“Oh, Toni,” I whispered again, tears spilling uncontrollably out of my eyes and rolling down my cheeks. “We don’t have to.”

“If you want to, then we’ll have it, Gabi.”

I shook my head and hugged the dress close to my chest. “I don’t want to.”

“Why?” he asked, scooting over closer to me and wiping my tears with his thumbs.

“Because I’m already married to you. We don’t need to renew our vows or whatever, because I meant whatever I swore to do, and I know you did, too. I don’t…I don’t need to be a slim bride, because I know you love me even if I’m fat and ugly. And it’s not like I never had the wedding I wanted. I did. It was the most wonderful wedding ever, because I got married to you, Toni. And we have the most perfect family…and I don’t need this. I don’t need all these superficial things, because I know deep down inside of me, what I feel for you will always be there, no matter whether we have just one wedding ceremony while I was pregnant or if we have a thousand others.”

He wrapped his arms tightly around me. “I love you so much,” he whispered.

“I love you too, baby,” I mumbled. “Thanks for the dress.”

He pulled away and smiled. “Do you wanna try it on?”

So I made my way into the bathroom and changed into the dress, making sure not to wet it. It fit me perfectly, clinging to my waist, and the mermaid tail flared out nicely, and I could actually see it this time. Toni was staring eagerly at the bathroom door as I opened it and went back to his side.

“Can you help me tie it up?” I asked, referring to the corset.

He did so eagerly, before pushing me over to the mirror and standing behind me. “Oh, Gabi,” he whispered. “You look beautiful.”

“You like?”

He wrapped his arms around my waist and leaned his chin on my shoulder. “My beautiful wife.”

“I love you so much,” I said, my voice breaking as tears started falling down my face again.

“I love you more, Gabriele,” he kissed my bare shoulder. “Don’t cry, baby.”

“I’m trying,” I sobbed. “Oh, Toni, I look so pretty.”

He burst out laughing. “Now you know!”

“Because you put me in this pretty dress,” I continued sobbing.

“Do you wanna take family photos with this? Like, with Mia and Johann?”

“Really?” I asked. His idea just made me cry even more. “We can?”

“Of course, baby,” he smiled. “Maybe on our first wedding anniversary.”

“Oh, Toni,” I turned around, buried my face into his shoulder, and wept into it. “I love you. I love you so, so much.”

“I love you, too,” he whispered, grabbing the sides of my face and giving me a hard, wet kiss on the lips. “Do you think we should go back downstairs?”

I nodded, and headed back into the bathroom to change back into my clothes and wash my face in an attempt to reduce the puffiness that was evidence that I’d been crying. Grabbing Toni’s hand and giving him another kiss on his cheek, we went back downstairs to our precious little baby twins.

Toni’s POV

“How’s everything?” I asked Gabi’s mum when we reached the kitchen.

She beamed at the both of us. “Everything’s just fine. Everyone’s having a lot of fun. Thomas loves the twins.”

Gabi gaped at her in pure horror. “Did he drop the babies?” she whispered urgently.

“No, he didn’t,” Mrs. Meiser rolled her eyes.

“He’s going to drop the babies!” she exclaimed, pushing us aside and running to the living room.

Gabi’s mum and I looked at each other helplessly before chasing after her, only to see her stop behind the crowd and desperately try to see what was going on by going on her tiptoes.

“Need help?” I whispered as I reached her side, grabbing her by the waist and lifting her a few inches in the air.

She let out a loud surprised shriek, and the entire room turned to her and collectively whispered, “Shhhh!”

She flung both her hands over her mouth before nudging me with her elbow and making me put her down. And then suddenly, as if realising this was  _our_ house and  _our_ babies, she asked, “What’s happening?”

“They’re asleep,” Basti turned and whispered to us, a loving look on his face.

The both of us nudged our way through to the centre of the crowd – which consisted of Thomas and Manu sitting on the ground with the twins in their laps, rocking them gently as they fell asleep. They looked completely peaceful and in place in their big strong arms, and Thomas and Manu were gazing dreamily at them, but I knew they wouldn’t know what to do with the twins after a while.

“Don’t drop her,” Gabi told Thomas.

Thomas tore his gaze away from Mia and turned it to Gabi. “Why aren’t you saying that to him?” he asked, a little hurt in his voice, as he referred to Manu sitting beside him with Johann in his arms.

“He’s a goalkeeper,” Gabi said, leading the rest of the room to start laughing softly.

“Don’t worry, he was handling her very well earlier,” Basti beamed proudly as if Thomas was _his_  son.

All of us stood there for a few more minutes just staring at the four of them, before we decided that they should be put in their cots, which Gabi’s parents had bought just so we could all return for the holidays. Not wanting to disturb their sleep, we made Thomas and Manu carry them upstairs.

Suddenly, Thomas tripped on the last step and landed on his knees on the second floor landing. Mia was still sleeping soundly in his arms, but Gabi almost had a heart attack and nearly fell down the stairs had I not grabbed her arm.

She charged up the rest of the steps and knelt down beside Thomas. “Is she okay?”

“Gotcha!” Thomas grinned at her mischievously.

“Thomas!” Gabi scolded.

“I had a lot of practice,” he turned to me and winked, remembering that night we played against Algeria in Brazil. He stood up again and headed into the makeshift nursery, but not before saying over his shoulder, “I’m a little hurt that you didn’t ask about  _me_!”

Gabi rolled her eyes and rushed into the nursery after them. She watched nervously as the twins were put into their cots, moving to drape their blankets over them and to adjust their pillows. It was only after the little crowd had left the nursery did she finally give a relieved sigh.

We’d just closed the door gently behind us when Gabi’s dad called up from the stairs, “You two! I’m going to get some beer, we’ve run out of beer. Do you need anything?”

“Now?” Gabi asked. “I’ll go, dad, stay here with Toni.”

“Stay here with me?” I asked. “I’m not a baby.”

“You’re my baby,” she said, using my line on me. She grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me gently towards her dad. “Come on, you two have some quality time together.”

Giving me a soft kiss on the lips, she grabbed her keys and her coat and went out the door, leaving me alone with Mr. Meiser. I smiled at him awkwardly, because we hadn’t really talked much since he knew I was leaving to play for Madrid.

It wasn’t awkward at all with him, though, because all he asked me about was how we were doing with the twins. And with the both of us being dads, it was easier for us to connect, and I spent the entire time just talking to him about the four-month-old twins while he gave me his own parenting tips.

Time flew past, and I’d barely realised that almost three hours had passed. Gabi, though, was not yet back from her beer trip. Worried, I took out my phone and called her.

“I’m fine,” she said immediately after picking up my call. “I just took a…little detour.”

“Where are you?” I asked.

“At the park,” she said. There was a metallic creaking sound and the rustling of plastic.

“Can I join you?”

“Sure,” I could almost hear her smile. “I’ll wait for you.”

I excused myself from Mr. Meiser and the rest of the party to make my way to the park, where Gabi was sitting alone on the swings, rocking back and forth gently with four six-packs of beer on the ground next to her.

She lifted her gaze and smiled when I approached. “Hey,” she said softly.

“Have you just been sitting here all along?” I asked as I settled into the swing next to hers.

“Yeah,” she looked back down on the ground. “I just…missed this place.”

I stayed silent, because we’d moved to Madrid because of me, and Gabi had to leave this place because of me. There wasn’t anything I could possibly say to make her feel better.

“Do you remember that time when I was upset at like three in the morning, and you followed me all the way here?” she continued, smiling but still gazing at the ground. “And then you sat and listened to me as I talked to you about my parents fighting, and then you gave me that whole pep talk about how they’d always love each other?”

“Yeah,” I whispered. Of course I’d remember. It was the night she first kissed me on the cheek.

“And then we sat on the swings until it was almost morning, and I asked you if you’d ever had a girlfriend?”

“And I told you I hadn’t.”

“Yeah,” she smiled again. “And you knew exactly what I was thinking because you told me I’d ‘find him one day.’”

“I’m really happy you remember that night,” I told her. She still had some holes in her memory, but she actually remembered that night all those years ago.

“Me, too,” she said, her voice beginning to quiver. “I loved you then. I didn’t know it, but I loved you. I was so happy that you didn’t leave me alone. I was so happy…to spend time with you. You just…you made me so happy. You still do. Until this day, eight years later, after all the cars and all the fights and the two babies, you still make me so happy.”

“You’re my favourite person in the entire world, Gabi. You make me so happy, too.”

“You stayed out with me,” she sighed. “That meant so, so much to me.”

“You kissed me on the cheek,” I whispered, placing my palm on my cheek where she’d done so.

She laughed, causing the tears at the edge of her eyes to fall down and hit her lap. “Oh, Toni, I stayed awake the entire night after that because I thought I’d gone too far.”

“Gabi, I nearly exploded.”

She laughed even harder. “I love you so much,” she whispered.

“I love you, too.”

“You were right, you know?” she suddenly started sobbing. “I found him. Actually, I’d _already_  found him. He’d always been by my side. And he still is. I know he always will be.”

“He will,” I said, walking my swing over to hers and grabbing her face in both my hands. I leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, feeling her smile against mine.

“Should we go back?” she asked, tilting her head towards the beer.

“No one has called, so I think they’re fine,” I told her. I stood up and went over to her swing, pulling it back and releasing it so she started swinging. She smiled at me, longing and nostalgia in her eyes, and pointed to my swing.

“You, too,” she said, sending a huge wave of déjà vu rushing through me.

I sat down and swung along with her, smiling as I listened to her carefree laughter, still as peaceful and gentle as it had been all those years ago as it travelled with the wind. And in those moments, we cast aside whoever that was waiting for us and the beer back at home; we cast aside every other worry, because as long as we had each other, everything would be perfect.

Gabi’s POV

It was already late at night when my dad finally returned from driving all of Toni’s friends back home. They were all too drunk to drive, and luckily my dad was sensible enough to stay awake and sober. Fortunately, the twins were sleeping soundly after being fed and changed, and they didn’t wake up despite all the noise everyone was making.

Toni was also drunk, of course, and passed out on the couch. With my dad’s help, I brought him upstairs and to the bed on our old room, after which I took over and sent my exhausted dad to bed.

I wetted a towel with warm water and used it to wipe Toni’s face, somehow managing to wake him up in the process. His eyes only opened halfway, though, and he gazed at me with a confused look in them.

“Hey there,” I said, sweeping his hair off his forehead.

“Hey,” he slurred. “You’re pretty.”

“Awww, thank you,” I smiled. “Are you feeling okay?”

“You’re pretty,” he said again. “Like my wife. Except my wife is prettier.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Really, she is?”

“My wife,” he cleared his throat and closed his eyes. “She’s beau…ti…ful.”

“That’s nice to hear.”

“You look like my wife…”

“I’m glad I do,” I said.

“We have two babies,” he continued. “Twins. They’re the most…wonderful…babies. Ever.”

“So I don’t stand a chance?” I teased.

“No!” he exclaimed, burping.

“You must love your wife a lot.”

He smiled and turned his head into the pillow to hide it. “I do,” he mumbled shyly.

“Your wife loves you a lot, too,” I said, sitting down next to him and attempting to take off his clothes so he could sleep better.

“You should stop taking off my clothes,” he muttered. “I’ll call my wife…and she’ll hit you.”

“Your wife can fight?” I asked, not heeding his advice and continuing to strip him.

He was beaming as I turned him to face the ceiling, albeit with his eyes closed. “She can kick…kick really hard.”

“Oh, yeah?” I smiled. “I’d love to meet your wife.”

“No!” he whispered conspiratorially. “She mustn’t know that you took off my clothes.”

I burst out laughing. “I’m sure she won’t mind.”

“Stop taking off my clothes,” he whined, even though I was already done and I’d covered him with the sheets. “I have a wife. She’s really…sexy.”

“It’s me, baby,” I told him, leaning over and kissing his forehead. “I’m your wife.”

He grabbed my hand and felt it blindly. “Your hand feels like my wife’s,” he said lovingly, pressing it against his cheek.

I sighed in resignation and turned around to put the towel away – but Toni was still grabbing tightly onto my hand, not wanting to let it go although I was tugging on it. I stood there staring at him helplessly, waiting for him to fall asleep so I could clean up.

Soon, he fell into a deep sleep – I knew because he’d started snoring loudly – so I tried again to pull my hand out of his grasp, but he still held on tightly to it even in his sleep. Shaking my head, I put the towel on the bedside table and climbed over him to lie behind him, wrapping my arms and legs around him tightly and leaning my head on his back.

“Good night, husband,” I whispered. “I love you so much.”


	26. No More Stunts

Toni’s POV

“Shhh, shhh,” Gabi rocked Johann in her arms as we landed back in Madrid. “Please stop crying, baby.”

The twins were pacified for most of the three-hour flight from Munich to Madrid, with much thanks to Gabi’s fingers, which they sucked on relentlessly throughout the entire journey, even when they were asleep. Pacifiers didn’t do it for them, and neither did my fingers. They would cry whenever Gabi tried to reclaim her hands. Her hands were all sticky and swollen as a result.

Despite all her efforts, Johann had awoken when we’d landed and started wailing his lungs out, attracting some annoyed glances. Thankfully, Mia was quiet as usual. She really helped to balance things out between the both of them.

“Shhh,” Gabi whispered again, frantically sticking two of her fingers into Johann’s mouth. “Everyone’s staring at us, baby. We don’t want people to stare at us. Is your diaper dirty? Are you hungry? What’s wrong?”

I laughed. “Gabi, he can’t answer you.”

“What am I supposed to do?” she asked. She looked like she was going to burst into tears any moment and end up in a crying heap together with Johann.

I felt his bottom and saw that it was dry, so I took out a bottle of milk and handed it to Gabi. “Try feeding him?”

Reluctantly, she retrieved her fingers from Mia, who was draped peacefully over my thighs. Pausing for a moment to see if she would burst into tears, we were very much relieved when she didn’t – instead, she just hugged her little teddy tightly.

Gabi grabbed the bottle from me and started feeding Johann, but he continued whining a little even when the bottle was in his mouth. After a while, though, he stopped making any painful sounds and started suckling quietly.

“Oh, thank God,” Gabi sighed.

But I noticed him still desperately waving his arms around, seemingly wanting to pick his ears but not being able to properly reach them. I took the bottle out of his mouth, much to Gabi’s shock and confusion, and traded Mia for Johann.

“Are your ears blocked?” I asked Johann, who was still waving. I stuck my little fingers in his ears and jiggled them around gently. “Does it hurt? You have to yawn, baby. Come on, yawn like daddy.”

Fortunately, I was feeling a little tired after the plane ride, so I yawned upon demand. He stared at me, confused for a moment, before the contagious effect of yawns got into his little brain and he opened his mouth wide to yawn.

I knew it worked, because after he was done he stopped waving his chubby arms around and started grinning at me happily. I turned to Gabi, who was gaping at me in amazement.

“But…but…” she stuttered. “He drank the milk.”

Laughing, I reached over and pushed her mouth shut. “He’s a greedy baby, just like his mama.”

She rolled her eyes at me and reached over to boop Johann’s nose. “Happy?” she asked.

“Pee,” he repeated, clapping his hands. “Pee!”

Gabi gaped at him again. “Is he trying to say ‘happy’ or is he telling me he just peed?”

Mia suddenly started clapping along from Gabi’s lap. “Peeeeeee!”

I started laughing. The twins had started babbling to themselves over the past week, but it was incoherent and they would dribble all over themselves whenever they said anything. “I think they’re just trying to say ‘happy,’” I told Gabi.

She smiled. “Well, if they’re happy, I’m happy.”

And that made me happy too, of course. We placed Mia and Johann in their pram and proceeded to collect our bags and the little kennel containing Julius and Lennox before we headed back to our home in Madrid.

Gabi’s POV

The house was quieter as Toni was away with his team, and for some reason, I was utterly exhausted even a few days after the holidays in Munich. And for some other reason, the twins were feeling especially energetic and refused to take their afternoon nap. They rolled around excitedly in their cots and poked each other’s faces through the railings, giggling as they did so.

I had no other choice, so I sat on the floor next to them and watched them, making sure they didn’t poke each other in the eyes. Toni was away for the entire day and he would probably be back in the evening, and I couldn’t wait for it to come. Leaning my head on the cots, I closed my eyes and took a little rest – only to suddenly hear an extremely loud shriek followed by a massive fit of giggles.

I shot upright immediately, hitting my head on the cots in the process. “Ouch,” I muttered. “What’s wrong? Who hurt you?”

Mia was almost on her knees, her face pressed tightly in the gap between two of the vertical bars of the cot rails. Her entire head was almost through the rails, and she was grabbing them with her little chubby fingers. Johann, who was on the other side of those rails, was poking her nose and cheeks excitedly, leading her to giggle uncontrollably.

“Oh, baby, no,” I reached over and eased her head out of the hole. “You’ll get stuck and we’ll have to cut you out and it’ll hurt.”

Not understanding a single word I’d said, she attempted to put her head in the hole again. I reached over and grabbed her gently, carrying her up and out of the cot. Unhappy with that, she started whining loudly and waving her limbs in the direction of Johann. Johann, meanwhile, just lay there sadly gazing at the both of us.

“No, Mia,” I turned her to face me and shook my head at her. “You can’t do that.”

She stared at me sadly, so I sat down on the floor and grabbed her little chubby cheeks in my hands. I massaged them gently using my fingers, hoping to lighten the red marks that had formed on her skin. After a few moments, she started smiling.

Turning to Johann, I saw that he, too, was trying to put his face through the rails. Heaving a huge sigh, I grabbed him and put him next to Mia. “You can play like this, okay?” I told her. “Not through the rail.”

They paid no attention to me at all, and I felt so helpless and so afraid of leaving the both of them in their cots alone. I left them on the ground in a little circle of pillows and ran downstairs to get them some mashed potatoes, which had started to become their favourite food.

Suddenly, I had a brilliant idea. I grabbed the both of them and sat them to face me, supporting their backs with stacks of little pillows. I put the bowl of mashed potatoes in front of them, and naturally they started clawing eagerly in its direction.

“Okay, you two, here’s the thing,” I said, even though they evidently could not understand me. I picked up the bowl and put it in front of my face so they’d look at me.

“When I shake my head,” I said, shaking my head from side to side. “It’s a no. That means don’t do it,” I moved the bowl behind my back, and their faces immediately fell. I shook my head again, just so they’d get the message that no meant negative.

Using my fingers to tilt their chins and make them look at me again, I nodded my head. “This is a yes. That means you can do it,” I said, grabbing the mashed potatoes and putting it back in front of them.

I continued this for a while, hiding the bowl when I shook my head and said ‘no,’ and putting it back in front when I nodded and said ‘yes.’ Strangely, they were being extremely attentive – I attributed that to the massive bowl of mashed potatoes that they totally couldn’t wait to gobble up.

I picked up a spoon in each hand and scooped up some mashed potatoes for them. Their mouths immediately fell open. As a last reminder, I brought the spoons closer to them as I nodded my head, and retreated my hands as I shook my head. Finally seeming to get the idea, they nodded their heads eagerly.

“Clever babies,” I beamed at them as I finally fed them their mashed potatoes. They sat obediently for a while as I fed them spoonful after spoonful, until I decided to test them again.

Putting the bowl aside, I gave them each their favourite toys – Johann his little yellow rabbit and Mia her green teddy (which, if you asked me, was a totally weird colour for a teddy). I let them cuddle the toys and play with them for a while before I gently pried them away from their chubby fingers.

Much to my delight and pride, they started shaking their heads frantically and reaching out to grab their toys back from me. Their faces lit up with bright smiles as I returned the rabbit and teddy to them, and they squealed excitedly as they hugged them tightly.

Lifting the both of them off the ground, I put them back in their respective cots and turned them so they faced each other. Initially, they were distracted by their soft toys, but they eventually caught sight of each other again through the cot rails, and moved to do the dangerous stunt of  _shoving the head between the rails_.

“No, no,” I reached over and tapped Mia on the shoulder once, leading her to turn and face me. I shook my head at her and took away her little teddy.

She stared at me, confused and sad, and I shook my head again. Slowly, she lay back down on her back, her eyes still locked on my face. She didn’t move a muscle for the next few seconds.

Laughing at her overly obedient reaction, I handed her the green teddy and leaned over to kiss her nose. “Good girl,” I smiled, and she grinned back at me happily, holding no grudges.

I turned to Johann, who was just staring warily at whatever that was happening between me and Mia. His hands were already resting on the rails, preparing to put his head through them. I smiled at him, forgetting that it was a sign of encouragement – and that led him to move his face towards the blue-painted wood.

“No,” I said, shaking my head and moving towards his little yellow bunny – but before I could take it, he’d grabbed it and lay back down on his back obediently, not touching the rails any longer.

I couldn’t help but give a little chuckle. They were such fast learners. They were barely five months old and they’d already understood what I was trying to teach them! I was so, so proud. I didn’t even feel tired anymore.

I sat down on the floor, staying out of their sight. Every time any one of them tried to put their head in the rails, I’d snake my arm upwards to take their toy while saying “no.” Eventually, they decided not to risk their toys being taken and just settled with poking each other through the rails instead of sticking their entire heads through them.

Relieved, I picked up the remainder of the mashed potatoes and put it into the fridge. After washing up the spoons, I proceeded back upstairs, only to hear one of the twins screaming at the top of their lungs.

“NO!!!” came the scream again, and I saw that it was Johann as I approached the nursery. Mia was trying to stick her head through again, and he was yelling practically the only real word he knew. “No!” he yelled again, this time shaking his head furiously, sticking his arm through and attempting to grab her green teddy. Once he did that, she immediately snatched it back and lay back down.

Laughing, I went over to the both of them, who turned towards me in unison and smiled innocently as if nothing had happened. Suddenly, Mia turned as far as she could to her right and extended both her arms in Johann’s direction, frantically nodding her head at him, and then turning to nod at me.

“Aww, you want to be with your brother?” I smiled, lifting her by her underarms and placing her on the ground before returning to take Johann as well.

They lay there quietly for a while, picking at the wide variety of toys at their disposal and playing with each other. Soon, the room turned a little dimmer as the evening approached, and they began to be a little lethargic.

“Time to sleep, baby,” I grabbed Mia – only to find that I couldn’t lift her off the ground because Johann was grabbing onto her foot. He looked up at me with his bright blue eyes and shook his head sadly.

Smiling, I knelt down and grabbed him in my other arm. “It’s okay, I can’t bear to leave your little sister, either. And you, too.”

He moved to grab Mia’s arm as I picked the both of them up. They had grown too big to sleep in the same cot. Not knowing how to separate the two precious siblings without them wailing loudly, I brought them to the room where Toni and I slept.

I set them down right in the middle of the bed as I changed their diapers one by one. After I was done, I sat them both on my thighs, wondering how I was ever going to get them to sleep. They smiled up at me, flashing their rows of little pink gums.

I gave them each a kiss on their heads, and they responded excitedly as usual, beaming and clapping their hands. I puckered my lips, and they imitated my actions just as any baby would. Leaning my head downwards and closer to them, I pointed to both my cheeks.

They stared at me warily for a while, so I nodded at them, hoping they’d understand – and they did! With their lips still puckered, they leaned in and planted a kiss each on my cheeks, before starting to clap their hands excitedly again.

I hugged them close to my chest. “You two are the cleverest twins  _ever_ ,” I whispered. “Mummy is so proud of you.”

With their hands still connected, they leaned their cheeks on my shoulders and yawned in unison, so I lay back down in the middle of the bed and closed my eyes. “Good night, Johann. Night, Mia.”

Putting my palms firmly over their fluffy backsides so that they were draped safely halfway over my chest and shoulders, pressed tightly enough against me so that they wouldn’t roll off and fall off the bed, I fell asleep with a big smile on my face, my chest bursting with the highest amount of motherly pride for my two precious children; whom I knew, I just knew had such a bright future ahead of them.

Toni’s POV

I headed straight home after we were given permission to leave, wondering if Gabi and the kids were okay and why they hadn’t called. It was already in the evening, and Gabi hadn’t called me; I’d called her, but there was no answer.

The house was unusually quiet as I reached home, but there was loud synchronised breathing coming from mine and Gabi’s room, so I tiptoed up the stairs.

Gabi was laid out in the middle of our bed with our twins on either side of her – her right arm was more relaxed, letting Mia lie on her back and rest her head on Gabi’s arm; Johann, on the other hand, was on his front and halfway falling off the left side of her chest, his little hand casually resting on her left breast. All three of them had their mouths wide open and were breathing loudly.

I couldn’t help but start laughing at the entire scene in front of me. They just looked so adorable. I sat down on Johann’s side and gently removed his hand from Gabi’s boob.

“That’s mine,” I whispered.

He stirred a little, stretching both his arms out in front of him and slapping Gabi’s left cheek in the process, before rolling off and sitting upright with the support of Gabi’s side. Gabi startled, her eyes shooting open to stare at Johann.

“What is it, baby?” she asked, not noticing that I was there.

Johann caught sight of me sitting at the end of the bed and grinned widely, showing the tips of his little growing front teeth. He stretched out his arms towards me and nodded furiously.

Gabi followed his gaze and saw me as well, and she had such a huge shock that she couldn’t sit up properly and fell back on her back as she tried to do so.

“Toni!!!” she shrieked, waking Mia, who started pouting at her.

“Hey, baby,” I smiled, reaching over and grabbing Johann. “Hey, handsome. How are you?”

“Yeah!” he yelled in my ear as I hugged him. “YEAH!!!”

Gabi, who had finally managed to sit upright with Mia in her arms, suddenly burst out laughing. “Oh, thank God he still remembers.”

“Remembers what?” I asked.

“They understand ‘yes’ and ‘no’ now,” she informed me proudly, before frowning slightly. “That’s because they almost killed themselves trying to put their heads through their cot rails.”

“Really?” I pinched Johann, who was still grinning at me, on the nose. “Naughty baby.”

Gabi pulled me closer to her and told me the entire story of the twins and the bowl of mashed potatoes, and how they eventually understood her nods and her head shakes. And of course, how they just wouldn’t let each other go, which was why she had to sleep with the both of them in our bed.

“So they know when we’re telling them to stop?” I reached over and grabbed Mia to put her on my other thigh. She opened her arms and nodded eagerly at me as if she wanted me to hug her, so I did exactly that.

“I think they just know that if I say no, they’ll have to stop or I’ll take their mashed potatoes and teddies away.”

I laughed. “Well, that’s a start.”

“Oh, and they also like to nod and shake their heads now.”

I laughed again. Mia was still clinging on to the back of my neck and not wanting to let go of the hug. “I can tell.”

“And they’ll kiss you if you point to your cheeks and nod at them,” she added, pulling Mia and Johann gently so they’d look at her.

She puckered her lips, and they mirrored her exactly. Then she pointed at me, and after a moment’s hesitation, both of them turned back to me. I pointed to my cheeks, but they continued staring until I nodded my head, after which they leaned over and slapped drool-covered kisses on my cheeks.

“So clever,” I whispered, overwhelmed, as I held them close to me. Gabi was just so good with them. “Oh, Gabi, I love you.”

She laughed and leaned across the twins to plant a gentle kiss on my lips. “I love you too, baby. Come on, let’s go eat some mashed potatoes.”

I hoisted the twins up in my arms and went down the stairs after an excited Gabi, who skipped into the kitchen and started preparing dinner for the three of us.

The twins were just babbling to each other as they played on the dining table under my watch, and I couldn’t help but smile at them and at Gabi, who had a bounce in her step as she brought out two plates of dinner and another huge bowl of mashed potatoes.

I picked up her fork and fed her as she fed the twins, and as we all ate together as a little family, I couldn’t help but feel so emotional about how much Gabi and I had grown together, and how much the twins were going to grow together with us. I couldn’t help but feel so thankful for having the three of them by my side. And as I watched the twins nodding eagerly at the approaching heaped spoonfuls of mashed potatoes, I couldn’t help but be excited about the future – knowing that as long as I had Gabriele, Johann, and Mia by my side, the future was definitely going to be blazing bright. 


	27. My Valentine(s)

Gabi’s POV

Toni charged down the stairs and shoved me aside on his way to the door as he heard the bell ring. He wove his way past Johann and Mia, who were wriggling about on the ground, and almost crashed head-first into the wood as he opened it.

I stared at him, shocked and confused, as he almost snatched the parcel from the mailman, grinned widely at him as he signed for it, thanked him, and closed the door.

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked as he waved the box around like an excited little child.

“I can’t believe it came today!” he said, moving over to the couch. “The twins are six months old today, right?”

“Yeah,” I smiled. “What is it?”

“I bought these for them,” he said.

“For them?” I asked, intentionally sounding a little hurt. “What about me?”

“You have me,” he proclaimed, opening the parcel and digging into it. “And this is for you too, Gabi. It’s Valentines’ Day, and I would never forget my darling Valentine.”

“Really?” I asked, picking the twins up and going over to the couch to kneel beside him. I waited eagerly as he finally pulled out whatever was inside.

Much to my surprise, it was two Bayern kits. In the previous season’s design, the beautiful red one.  _In child sizes._

I felt my mouth fell open as I turned and stared at Toni and his cheeky smile. He turned the two shirts around – on the back was written “Johann, 8” and “Mia, 9.”

“Oh, my God,” I whispered. “That’s their cot numbers.”

“Yeah,” he slid the shirts over their heads as I watched with my mouth still open. They were much larger than the Real kits, presumably so that they could still wear it when they were a little bigger. After all, that design couldn’t be bought anymore. They looked so lively in red, and so adorable with the shirts almost as long as evening gowns. I couldn’t believe I was seeing them in my team’s colours.

“Oh, they’re beautiful,” I started sobbing. “Thank you, Toni. Thank you.”

“You like them?”

“I do,” I sobbed. “You should have bought a 3 for Johann, so they make 39.”

Another huge grin split his face as he reached back into the box and pulled out another child-sized shirt, this time with “Johann, 3.”

“Here you go,” he said proudly.

“Oh,” I choked, grabbing the shirt from him. “Oh, Toni!”

“Are you going to say that now it’s unfair because Johann has two?”

I laughed through my tears. “Now that you mention it, it’s a little unfair.”

He smiled, reaching over with one hand and wiping my tears gently. With his other hand, he dug in the box again and pulled out yet another red shirt. “Mia, 8.”

“8 also happens to be my number now,” he told me as he passed it to me.

I couldn’t think of anything else to say, so I got up, went over to his side and crawled into his lap to hug him tightly. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, baby,” he kissed the side of my neck. There was some more movement behind my back as he played around with something. I assumed that he was just rearranging the twins on the couch, so I just ignored it, but a few moments later he pulled away from me.

With his arms still behind me, he smiled and gave me a kiss on the nose, before moving his arms back in front and holding up yet another two red home kits. “Did you really think I forgot my number?”

I stared at the two latest shirts, whose backs were crowded with two numbers just as I was used to. It was Toni’s number when he was at Bayern. Johann, 39, and Mia, 39.

I grabbed them from him and clutched the four shirts in a bundle against my chest. “Oh, they’re so beautiful.”

“I thought it’d be a good way to teach them their names,” he said, running his fingers through my hair.

“It is,” I sobbed. “It’s the best way.”

He wrapped his arms tightly around me, pressing my face gently into his shoulder. “You’re a Bayern girl,” he whispered. “You’re  _my_  Bayern girl. And I know you will always be. Don’t be mad at me for bringing this up again, but I can’t help but feel so guilty every time I think of that fight we had. And I’m so, so, sorry, Gabi, I really am. I don’t know what else I can do or say. And it really, really means a lot to me that you’re willing to put on a Real Madrid shirt and attend my matches. But I know you will always love Bayern. So I hope you like these.”

“Toni, baby,” I said into his ear. “I’ve already forgiven you. Ages ago. And you don’t have to do anything to try and make it up to me, or whatever. I love you. I’d do anything for you, you know that, right? But I love these. I really love them. Thank you so much.”

“I love you so much, Gabriele.”

“I love you more,” I wept into the crook of his neck. “I love you, Toni.”

He smiled and hugged me tightly. “Don’t cry anymore.”

“I love the shirts,” I said.

“I’m glad you do,” he smiled against my hair. “I know you hate the new blue ones.”

“I do. They’re so ugly.”

He burst out laughing, releasing me and putting me down on the couch next to him. Picking up the twins, he put them on his thighs. “Aren’t they adorable?”

“They are,” I smiled, wiping my tears with the back of my hands. Suddenly, I had an idea. “Hold on,” I told him, getting up and running upstairs.

I returned to the living room in one of my numerous Kroos jerseys, a red one which matched the ones the twins were wearing. Toni smiled when he saw me, although he was kneeling down on the ground in front of the twins, who were sitting up on the couch.

“Still my perfect family,” he said as I twirled around. “Come here, Gabi, watch this.”

I went and knelt beside him, wondering what he was up to. He sat the twins upright and leaning on the back of the couch, and although they were initially distracted by their soft toys, Toni grasped their chins gently and made them look at him. They had an extremely short attention span, so they started clapping and smiling when they saw him.

Toni hid his face behind his hands, and I watched as the twins’ faces fell when he “disappeared” – until he removed his hands, calling out, “Boo!”

Mia and Johann burst into screaming laughter, leaning their heads backwards and waving their limbs around in excitement – until they lost their balance and fell sideways in opposite directions, landing on their sides on the couch, still giggling uncontrollably.

Laughing, Toni set them upright again and did the same trick, and they responded in the same way, laughing so hard that they literally fell over. It happened over and over again, even when I did it. They weren’t strong enough to get back up on their own, though, so we had to return them to their original positions.

Soon, as they fell over for what seemed like the hundredth time to me, Johann decided that he was tired and went to sleep just as he fell over, refusing to get up even when we made him sit up. He just fell over, closed his eyes, and went to dreamland. Mia, though, was doing her cockroach thing again, waving excitedly to get our attention.

Toni placed all the remaining baby shirts back into the box and put Mia on top of them, making her even more excited. I carried Johann up to the nursery and placed him into the cot as Toni followed with Mia in the box.

“Shhhhh,” Toni whispered as Mia started kicking around noisily and babbling loudly to herself. “Your brother is sleeping.”

“Ping!” she exclaimed loudly, and Toni frowned at her. He shook his head, and Mia immediately shut up and stopped kicking around. She lay there on the ground obediently as we tucked Johann under his blanket and made sure he was comfortable.

“Let’s bring her over to our room,” I whispered to Toni, who nodded and scooped her up suddenly, making her squeal loudly again.

“I think she likes this bed,” Toni said as he put a violently wriggling Mia down on our bed.

“I like it too,” I told him.

Smiling, he leaned over and kissed me on the lips. Quickly, it turned into a long, lingering one, and he refused to let me go.

“Not in front of her,” I whispered.

“I don’t think she cares,” he replied.

Just then, Mia started squealing again, beaming at us with her quarter-grown teeth and waving her arms around. I opened my eyes and glanced at her lying against the pillows, only to see her opening her arms in our direction, making a kissy face, and nodding eagerly.

“She totally does,” I told Toni, pushing him aside.

He reached over and carried her over closer to us. “What do you want, baby?”

She continued doing the same three things, so Toni decided to lean over and plant a kiss on her nose. Instead of being satisfied, she started shaking her head.

“What does she want?” Toni asked, confused.

“She wants to kiss us, silly,” I said, grabbing Mia from her and lifting her face close to my cheek. Giggling, she planted a super wet kiss on my cheek and started clawing at my face excitedly.

“Want to kiss daddy?” I asked her.

She grinned, recognising the word “daddy,” and gave Toni a kiss on the cheek when I put her close to him. He gave her a slight pinch on the cheek before suddenly grabbing her and putting her on the ground in front of our full-length mirror.

At the sight of her own reflection, Mia’s jaw practically fell to the ground. She moved her hand slowly to the mirror, watching as her reflection did the same, before she caught sight of mine and Toni’s reflections just above hers and she started laughing, losing her balance and falling over again.

She continued giggling as we put her back upright, slapping her palms on the mirror, excited to see herself.

“She loves herself!” Toni said adoringly.

I burst out laughing. “Who wouldn’t?”

He bent over and grabbed her little chubby hand, extending it to the mirror until she touched it. “This is you,” he said. “You’re Mia.”

At the sound of the name “Mia,” she turned around and stared at him. She could recognise her name being called, just like Johann could, but she couldn’t say it herself. She turned back to the mirror, staring confusingly at her own reflection.

“Mia,” Toni repeated, this time pointing to Mia’s reflection.

She followed his finger, laughing again when she saw herself. She leaned forward and pressed her cheek against the mirror lovingly.

“Mia,” I knelt beside her and pointed at her reflection, and then at her. “You’re Mia. Miiiiia.”

“Meeeeeeeeee,” she said, her dribble spilling all over herself.

Toni beamed proudly. “That’s halfway there, baby.”

“Meeee,” she repeated, patting her reflection again.

“Is she saying ‘me’ or is she trying to say her name?” I asked.

Toni ignored me. He  _ignored_   _me_. “Mia,” he said. “Say ‘Miiiiiiiia.”

“Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,” Mia lay down on the ground, still gently stroking her own reflection. “Yaaaaaaaa.”

Toni’s mouth fell open as he turned and gaped at me. “She just said it! She said ‘Mia!’”

I reached over and wiped her dribble. “Say it again, baby.”

And it was her turn to ignore me. She babbled randomly to herself, ignoring me and Toni, all the while still stroking the mirror, as if she was speaking to herself.

“Mia,” I called softly.

She perked up again at the sound of her name. “Meee-ya,” she repeated.

Toni and I turned to each other and grinned, both of us equally proud of our little baby daughter. Moving in unison, we pounced on her gently, turning her onto her back and planting little kisses all over her face, leading her to giggle uncontrollably.

“MEEYAH,” she squealed, poking herself on the nose.

“You’re such a smart little girl,” Toni tickled her tummy. “Our smart little girl.”

“Next we have to teach her how to say ‘mama’ and ‘dada,’” I told him.

“She basically repeats everything we say, so that won’t be hard,” he chuckled.

“Oh, really?” I teased. “I don’t think it’s that easy.”

To prove his point, he grabbed Mia and put her on his lap. Mia followed his finger as he pointed to me.

“Mama,” he told her. “Say ma-ma.”

She just stared at me, totally confused, her mouth slowly falling open and drool spilling out of it. She turned her head back to Toni, who repeated, “Ma…ma.”

After a long pause, Mia lifted her hand and caressed her own face. “Mia,” she said.

I burst out laughing. “She knows Mamma Mia!”

Toni rolled his eyes at me. “Say mama,” he shook Mia gently.

“Ma…” she mouthed, suddenly leaning against Toni for support. “Meeeee…ya.”

“Awww, she’s sleepy,” I smiled.

Toni smiled lovingly at her as he scooped her up and cradled her. “Night, Mia,” he whispered, kissing her head.

Mia mumbled incoherently to herself as she grabbed Toni’s fingers for support, and then all was quiet as she fell asleep leaning against Toni’s chest.

Toni got up as gently as he could and carried her over to the nursery, placing her in her cot next to Johann. The both of them were still wearing their Bayern jerseys, and they really looked like nightgowns now that they were both asleep.

“How do they even fall asleep so quickly?” Toni wondered aloud. “They just fall over and go to sleep.”

“They’re babies,” I pointed out.

He smiled. “I love them.”

“Me, too,” I whispered. “I wish I could fall asleep like that.”

He turned his head slowly towards me, a questioning look in his eyes. Before he could say anything, though, I reached over and pinched his nose, distracting him from his thoughts – it was that easy, because Toni was like a child.

“But now you have me all to yourself,” I whispered.

A gigantic cheeky grin spread across his face. “I do,” he said, his eyes gleaming. “How could I forget? You’ve been my valentine for eight years.”

He suddenly reached over and grabbed me by the waist, lifted me up in the air, and proceeded to carry me across the hallway to our room.

“Shhhhh,” he whispered as I let out a surprised yelp. “Don’t wake our bundles of joy.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked softly.

He gave my backside a hard smack. “You know what we’re going to do.”

“Oh,” I giggled. “That sounds fun.”

“It is,” he mumbled as he threw me down on the bed and crawled in between my legs and on top of me. “You know, you’re not supposed to be in this jersey,” he said, picking at the sleeve, and then at the hem, of my Kroos jersey.

“Oh, yeah?” I challenged playfully. “What are you going to do about it?”

“I’m going to rip it off so hard,” he whispered as he nibbled my earlobe. “That you’ll get all dizzy.”

“If it tears, you’re gonna get me another one,” I warned, sliding my finger down his cheek, watching his eyes start to gleam darkly.

He leaned further downwards and kissed me on the lips, biting hard on my lower lip. “I will give you anything you want, Gabriele.”

“I want you,” I whispered.

He smiled against my lips. “And you have me.”

Toni’s POV

“Oh, my God,” Gabi panted heavily as she lay on her back next to me.

“Happy Valentines’ Day,” I breathed, leaning over and kissing her again.

“Yeah, you too,” she smiled. Suddenly, she turned to her side and reached over to pick up the Bayern jersey she’d been wearing that had been flung on the floor. She gazed at it sadly for a few moments before holding it close to her chest. “Thanks for the shirts,” she whispered. “It means a lot to me.”

“Hey,” I said, turning her so she faced me. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she said, still holding the jersey against her chest.

“Really?” I asked.

She shifted her longing, nostalgic gaze to my face, her beautiful blue eyes reading mine, as if she was trying to decide if she should tell me what was going on. After a brief period of silence, she nodded her head. “Yeah.”

And then I remembered just less than an hour ago, when we were talking about how babies fell asleep so easily, and she said in passing that she wished she could fall asleep that easily. I grabbed her shoulder and turned her on her side so we were face to face.

“Don’t lie to me, Gabi,” I said softly. She didn’t reply. “Do you have trouble sleeping?”

Resigned, she closed her eyes. “Sometimes.”

“Why?” I reached over and tucked her hair behind her ear. “What’s wrong? Talk to me, baby.”

She remained silent, still desperately clutching the jersey close to her. Her face was twisted slightly in a grimace, but she didn’t say a single word. I lay there beside her, wishing so hard I could help her, wanting so bad to know what was going on, but she stayed so silent. It wasn’t until a few minutes later that she finally said something.

“Do you remember…” she started, her eyes still closed. “Valentines’ Day two years ago? I came back from London and…surprised you.”

“Yeah,” I whispered.

She smiled. “I was so happy to be home.”

And then I finally got it. “You miss home?” I asked.

“This is our home now, Toni,” she whispered. “I miss Munich.”

I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. “I’m so sorry.”

“No,” she continued whispering. “No, don’t be. I just…miss it sometimes. Since you know…we met there and stuff. It just feels so weird having our kids here and watching them grow up here. It feels so…different. But I’m trying, okay? I really am. I know it’s been such a long time, but…I just…I really want this to work. And it doesn’t matter that I can’t sleep. I’ll just watch you sleep.”

I smiled. “That’s so creepy.”

“Tit for tat,” she opened her eyes and smiled back at me.

“I love you so much,” I kissed her on the nose. “Please talk to me about these things, okay? I promise I won’t get mad. I’ll listen to anything you say.”

“Okay,” she let go of the shirt and raised her hands to run through my hair. “I love you, too.”

“Do you think you can sleep tonight?” I asked her cheekily to lighten up the mood. “If not, we can do it over and over again until you can’t move.”

She burst out laughing. “It’s okay, I think I’ll be fine tonight,” she closed her eyes again, this time with a peaceful smile on her face. “As long as I have you by my side.”


	28. Milestones

Toni’s POV

I sat on the couch with the twins on my lap as I waited for Gabi to get ready. It was finally our first wedding anniversary, and also our family photo-taking day. Even though we would have liked to spend it alone, it was after all a blessing to be able to spend time with our children.

“When mama comes down, we’ll all smile at her and tell her how beautiful she is, okay?” I told them.

They turned to look at me and grinned. They’d celebrated their eighth month last week, and they could almost talk. But it was still incoherent and mostly babbling. They would respond to certain words, though, such as their names and ‘mama,’ ‘dada,’ ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ and ‘okay.’

Johann bent over and leaned on my chest. “Kay,” he said.

I laughed. He probably didn’t even know what that meant. I turned to Mia, who was sucking violently on her own fingers. “Say ‘ma-ma,’” I told her.

She took her fingers out of her mouth. Drool fell off them and onto her onesie. “MA!” she screamed.

“Another time,” I said, just as Gabi appeared on the second floor landing. “Ma-ma.”

“Maaaaaa,” she said.

Gabi was in a white sundress decorated with huge splashes of sunflowers. It ended just before her knees, and flared out as she walked down the stairs with the clothing bag containing her wedding dress.

I grabbed the twins and turned them around to face her. “Isn’t mama beautiful?”

Mia started giggling when she saw Gabi. She’d always been attracted to bright splashes of colour, so Gabi’s dress really caught her attention. She opened her arms wide in Gabi’s direction. “MAMA!!!”

Gabi stopped in her tracks at the foot of the staircase. Her mouth slowly fell open, her gaze moving from my face to Mia’s, and then back again. “Did she just call me mama?” she asked urgently.

“I think she did,” I beamed.

I pointed in Gabi’s direction, and Mia giggled again. “Mamamamamama!” she squealed.

Gabi burst out laughing and ran over to scoop Mia in her arms, planting kisses all over her face and making her giggle even more. “You are such a darling!”

I stood up with Johann, who suddenly pulled away from the hug and looked at me expectantly. Slowly, he raised his arms in the air and nodded eagerly. “Up,” he said, drool spilling down his chin as he did so. “Upppppp.”

Gabi rolled her eyes. “He wants you to throw him.”

“Oh,” I smiled at him. “Well, soon I won’t be able to do that, so he might as well get it now.”

She held a violently kicking Mia as I threw and caught a giggling Johann, who was finally satisfied as he landed in my arms. Mia, though, was watching us intensely, stretching her arms out and using them to follow Johann’s path as he flew a couple of feet in the air and back down.

“Here,” Gabi extended Mia towards me. “Be fair.”

I knew she was just teasing, because she didn’t really feel safe about me throwing them around, but she trusted me to do it anyway. Besides, we’d agreed to always be fair to the twins and not be biased towards either one of them. So I exchanged Mia for Johann and did the same to her.

Mia seemed to be the more outgoing one, responding more to passers-by and to Gabi and I. Johann, on the other hand, was more shy and observant. He really loved Mia a lot, though, and he would grab on to her at every opportunity, as if he wanted her to lead him. He was also stronger, and he could sit upright. Mia could only kick hard, and she’d fall over if we sat her up. Both of them could roll over from their tummy to their back, but they were a little late in the opposite direction. Since they were active in other ways, we were told not to worry too much.

Gabi was smiling as she watched us. She lifted Johann by his underarms and nuzzled his nose with hers. “You two are going places someday.”

Johann grinned, placed his hands on her cheeks, and squished them gently. “Kay,” he said. “Kay kay kay!”

Gabi hoisted him on her shoulder and patted his backside. “That’s a promise, son.”

“Kay,” he said again, leaning his cheek on her shoulder and wrapping his arms around her neck.

“We should have named him Kay,” Gabi grumbled as she grabbed the clothing bag and walked out the front door.

“Kay Kroos?” I asked.

She burst out laughing and she couldn’t stop. “I should have thought that through,” she choked.

“’Kay Kroos’ sounds like you dissing me,” I teased as we put the twins into their car seats and buckled them up. “I can even imagine you rolling your eyes as you say it.”

Accommodating me, she rolled her eyes at me through the rearview mirror as she settled in the backseat next to the twins. “Kay, Kroos. Can we go now?”

“Kay, Meiser,” I laughed, giving her and the twins, who were wriggling about happily in their seats, one last smile through the rearview mirror before driving off to the studio.

Gabi’s POV

“Look at you, such a handsome man,” I grinned at Toni as he emerged from the changing room in a smart black suit and a grey tie. I grabbed the twins’ hands and pointed them in his direction. “Isn’t dada handsome?” I asked them.

They squealed happily as Toni sat down next to me and took over. I went into the dressing room and changed into the wedding dress that Toni had given me. Just as I remembered that I needed his help with the corset back, he poked his head around the curtain.

“Are you done?” he asked, juggling the twins in his arms.

“You’re not supposed to peep at me, stop being so creepy,” I told him. “Anyway, I need your help with the back.”

Grinning cheekily, he placed the twins on their backs on the floor near the curtain and the tail of my dress, stepping forward to help me lace up the back.

“How do I look?” I asked, attempting to twirl around – only to find out I couldn’t, because the twins were holding on to the train of my dress.

Or rather, Mia was holding on to it and stuffing it into her mouth eagerly, and Johann was desperately trying to stop her from doing so. He grabbed the train and tugged on it, freeing it from Mia’s hands, before shoving his own fingers into her mouth in place of the cloth.

“Awwwwwwwwwwww,” I cooed. “Smart boy.”

“Wait,” Toni grabbed my shoulder urgently. “Wasn’t he on his back?”

I turned and stared at him for a while, completely speechless. I turned back to Johann and saw that he was on his tummy, half leaning over Mia, with one hand in her mouth and the other supporting himself.

“He was,” I whispered after a short period of time.

Toni went over to Johann, gently removed his hand from Mia’s mouth, and flipped him over to his back beside Mia. Then he returned to my side, and we watched intently as Johann lay still for a few moments, gazing confusingly into space and moving his limbs around lazily, before he got bored, stretched out towards his right, and rolled over to get closer to Mia.

“Oh, my God,” Toni gasped.

“Oh, clever boy,” I whispered, bending over to pick him up – only to get stuck halfway due to my dress. “Hey, Toni, help me.”

Toni burst out laughing and picked the both of them up. He held Johann towards me so I could give him a quick kiss. “Kay!” he squealed over and over again as we brought them both over to the couch and put them on our laps to change them.

A few minutes later, they were decked out adorably in their attire for the day – Johann in a mini tuxedo complete with a bow tie and Mia in a dainty little white dress and a big daisy in her hair. They laughed when they saw each other, as if they were amused at how formal they looked, and I wondered for the millionth time if they had some secret way of letting each other know how they felt.

We left them in the corner, entertained by the crew in the photography studio, as we first took couple shots in my wedding dress. We were instructed to do a thousand different poses before we could finally take our photos as a family.

“Alright,” the photographer smiled at us as we sat down on the chairs they provided us with, with Johann on Toni’s lap and Mia on mine. He raised a finger and used it to direct us. “Mummy, kiss daddy on the cheek. Sister, kiss brother on the cheek.”

Laughing, we turned Mia around and made kissy faces at her. She grinned at us before puckering her lips, and we pointed at Johann’s cheek so she would kiss him. She hesitated for a few moments, confused, before we nodded at her and she proceeded to plant a sloppy kiss on his cheek.

“Okay, switch,” the photographer said after he got a few photos.

We did the same procedure to Johann, and the affection he held towards his sister was evident when he wrapped both his arms around her before kissing her hard on the cheek.

Toni laughed and turned to me. “I have to do it like him, right?” he teased, wrapping his arms around me. I managed to roll my eyes at him before he leaned in to kiss my cheek.

We were then instructed to hold the twins facing each other and let them do whatever they wished as the both of us kissed behind them. It was difficult at first, because all the both of them did was look at each other and burst out laughing, presumably at each other’s attire. Toni and I tried to shush them a few times, but to no avail, so we just decided to do it as it was.

Toni was smiling as he turned towards me. Both our hands were supporting the twins, so we couldn’t hold each other. We gazed at each other for a few moments before Toni closed his eyes and puckered his lips. “Aren’t you going to kiss me?” he asked, leading to a chorus of laughter from the crew and the photographer.

I rolled my eyes and leaned over to kiss him, the both of us smiling as our lips met. It felt so perfect. The entire session felt so perfect. The twins were in my tummy the last time I wore a wedding dress, and now they were out. It was the most meaningful thing we could possibly do.

Toni helped me untie the corset as we were done, but just as I was heading into the dressing room to change back into my sundress, he stopped me, brandishing a paper bag which I hadn’t noticed him take along. From it, he pulled out a few suits of clothing – Mia and Johann’s Real Madrid baby kits, my Real Madrid kit and a pair of jeans, and a last kit for himself.

“Ummm,” he hesitated. “Wanna take photos in these? I mean…we don’t have to, but –“

I put a finger over his mouth to shut him up. With my other hand, I took my set from him. “Okay,” I smiled, turning and proceeding into the dressing room.

He was still standing in the same position as I re-emerged in the shirt and jeans. “Thank you, Gabi,” he said softly.

I grabbed his face and kissed him gently on the lips. “I love you,” I whispered.

“I love you, too,” he smiled, relieved.

I changed Mia and Johann into their pink and black kits, complete with a black skirt for Mia and an adorable pair of brown pants for Johann, as Toni changed into his clothes. They had grown a little bigger now, and the baby shirts fit them just right.

The photographer instructed us to put Johann and Mia on our shoulders and face our backs to the camera. We were initially a little sceptical about whether they would fall off, but all those worries disappeared when the both of them grabbed handfuls of our hair and laughed, refusing to let go.

“He’s so feisty,” Toni said to me as his head was jerked back and forth by Johann. “How can he be so shy, but so feisty?”

I beamed at him. “Because he’s just like you, baby.”

He paused for a moment before laughing. “Yeah, I guess that’s right.”

After the first pose, Toni and I were told to hold each other’s hands. That meant that we had to let go of the twins with one hand, and Toni nearly peed himself with worry. Fortunately, the helpful crew was there to make sure that they were safe before running out of the shot when the photo was being taken.

Mia wrapped her arms around my head and leaned her cheek against the top of my bun, refusing to let go no matter how I tried to persuade her. She grabbed tightly onto me, her hands covering my eyes, and mumbled, “Mamaaaaaaa.”

“Let go of me, baby,” I said gently. “Mama can’t see.”

“See!” she exclaimed.

Toni laughed, reaching over and wiping her drool. “Mia, you’re going to drool all over mama’s hair.”

I would have gaped at him in horror if my eyes had been available to do so, but they weren’t, so it was just my mouth that fell open. “She’s going to drool all over my hair!”

He laughed again and put Johann down on the ground before prying her hands away from my eyes and carrying her off my head. In turn, she wrapped her arms tightly around Toni’s neck and rested her cheek on his shoulder, slowly drifting off to sleep.

“Aaaand she’s asleep,” Toni sighed lovingly. “Just like that! You know, I could just snap my fingers, and they’d fall asleep!” To prove his point, he bent over and snapped his fingers at Johann – he was mildly startled, before he stretched out his arms and legs and yawned a huge yawn. “See? I didn’t even expect that to work, but it did!”

I laughed, rearranging my hair and checking for drool. “Come on, let’s just bring them home.”

“Home?” he asked, confused. “Aren’t we going out for lunch?”

I grinned at him, because it was finally time for  _me_  to surprise  _him_. “No, we’re going home.”

“Okay,” he said, a little suspicious. After I scooped a rapidly falling asleep Johann into my arms, we picked up the rest of our clothes, thanked the photographer and his crew, and left for home.

Toni’s POV

Gabi was all excited and bouncy when we reached our front door, and I couldn’t help but be amused at how the tables had been turned – now I knew how she felt as she awaited all my surprises.

She opened the door and pushed me inside ahead of her. I eyed her suspiciously as I carried Mia into the living room, and I was right to be, because on the couch sat Josef, Eva, and Louise.

“Surprise!” Louise yelled, before turning and glaring at Josef and Eva. “You guys were supposed to say it together with me!” she complained.

Josef gaped at her in disbelief. “They’re sleeping, can’t you see?”

“That’s just an excuse,” she grumbled, standing up and running towards us. “Aww, look at my sleepy little godtwins.”

Gabi laughed softly. Louise was the twins’ self-proclaimed godmother, and she continued to be as long as Gabi and I didn’t disapprove. She grabbed our arms and dragged us over to the couch.

“What’s happening?” I asked Gabi.

“They’ll take care of them,” Gabi beamed. “And we can go celebrate our anniversary.”

“Really?” I felt a little excitement bubble within me. “Is it a lot of trouble?”

“Nah, we took a few days off,” Eva smiled. “For a nice short holiday.”

I turned to Gabi, who was passing Johann over to Josef. “Really? I have you all to myself?”

She elbowed me in the ribs just as Louise took Mia from me. “Yes, slowpoke.”

Still a little shocked and confused, I turned and watched the twins, who were sleeping peacefully in Josef and Louise’s arms. It was lucky that the twins were friendly and outgoing, and they wouldn’t get scared of new faces.

“Hey, buddy,” Josef said softly to Johann. “I’m Josef. You’re Johann. We can totes be best bros, man. It’s like, fate said we’d be best bros.”

Eva, who was sat in the middle of Josef and Louise, smiled encouragingly at us. “Don’t worry,” she assured us. “They’ll be fine with us.”

Gabi retrieved her sunflower dress from the paper bag. “Wanna help me change?” she whispered in my ear.

“Only if you help me,” I whispered back.

Louise rolled her eyes at us. “They think we can’t hear them,” she told Mia. “Such silly parents you have.”

Gabi laughed and grabbed my hand, dragging me upstairs to change. Unfortunately (for me, at least), we didn’t get to do anything more than that because, in Gabi’s words, “there are other people in the house.” I tried to tell her that our children were people too, and she didn’t mind when they were just across the hall, but she just rolled her eyes at me and intentionally slipped her jeans off in front of my eyes.

After we thanked the three of them and kissed the twins goodbye, Gabi took the wheel and drove me to a quiet little restaurant on the outskirts of Madrid. It wasn’t very usual that she took charge, and she seemed to be having a lot of fun doing so, so I just let her take me along.

For the rest of the afternoon, we forgot the rest of our concerns and we left the twins completely in Louise, Josef, and Eva’s hands. All we did was bask in the warmth of each other’s company in a nice quiet corner of the restaurant where we were alone and out of sight of other customers. And in those hours, it was as if we were teens again, living the carefree lives we’d led before in Munich and in Cologne.

After a while of joking around and feeding each other like we were so used to feeding the twins, we were finally done with our food. Gabi scooted over closer to me and leaned into my arms, tucking her head into the crook of my neck.

“Happy anniversary,” she whispered.

I kissed the top of her head. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” she grabbed my hand and kissed it. “I hope you had a great time today.”

“I did,” I said. “Thank you, Gabriele.”

She tilted her head upwards and smiled. “Thank you for being my husband.”

“I wouldn’t want to be anything else,” I told her.

Just then, the waiter came with two glasses of champagne, which he said was on the house on account of it being our anniversary. My wedding ring clinked against the glass as I picked it up.

Gabi giggled. “I love that sound,” she said.

“What sound?”

“This sound,” she moved her fingers so her ring clinked on the glass. “It reminds me that I’m yours, and you’re mine, and how happy I am that we’re each other’s.”

I smiled and leaned over to kiss her on the lips. “When did you become so romantic?”

“Since I became yours,” she giggled again. “I heard the sunset is beautiful from their balcony.”

So we brought our glasses out to a secluded spot in the balcony to watch the mesmerising Spanish sunset, sipping champagne after clinking glasses. It was all silent for a while as the sky turned from pale pink to deep orange, and soon everything looked fiery red under the setting sun’s glare.

Gabi turned to me and smiled, her face glowing beautifully. “Thank you for today,” she said, putting her empty glass down on a nearby table and reaching over to grab my face gently. “It means so much to me to put on my wedding dress again exactly one year after we got married.”

I set my glass next to hers and removed her hands from my face, grabbing them tightly in my hands instead. “I love you so much, Gabriele. You mean so, so, much to me, words would never be enough to let you know. You changed my life so many times, Gabi, and in the most wonderful ways possible. It wouldn’t be the same without you, not even a single bit. I love you so, so, much. I don’t know what I’d ever do without you, and without Johann and Mia. You all mean the world to me, and I love you so much, and I’d do anything for you. I love you, Gabi. Happy anniversary.”

She smiled, let go of my hands, and wrapped her arms around my neck. “You just can’t stop your smooth mouth, can you? You stole all my thunder. I wanted to say all those romantic and mushy things, but now you’ve said it all.”

“Okay, pretend I never said anything,” I said, wrapping my arms around her waist.

“Hmmmm,” she said thoughtfully as she leaned on my shoulder and we began to sway to an unheard beat. “You are my sky, always reminding me how big this world really is, and how lucky I am to meet you and be yours instead of anyone else’s. You are my sea, because your eyes are the colour of the water of my favourite sea, and I could get lost in them, swept away by them, just as I could be by the currents in the sea. You are my meadow, reminding me that there are so many places left that we have not explored, so many blades of grass behind which we have not looked, yet filling me with excitement about the opportunity to seek all these adventures with you. You are my wind and my rain, providing me with comfort in this sticky Spanish heat. You are my sun, my source of energy and joy. You are the weather when it rains and shines at the same time, because that’s how you make me feel – hot and cold at the same time, in the most magical way possible. You are my spring, my summer, my autumn, and my winter, because you manage to make me feel all the feelings I could ever possibly feel, even those I never thought I could feel, those that come from places so deep within me that I never knew they existed. You are my days, my months, and my years, because I can never see a day I could live without you. And most importantly, you are my husband, and I will always love you, until the day we both leave this earth, and even for a long time after that. Was that really clichéd? Sorry. I love you, baby. Happy anniversary.”

Too overwhelmed to say anything, I grabbed the back of her head and pressed my lips sweetly against hers. She smiled against them, her hands travelling north and twisting into my hair as mine moved south and rested in the small of her back, pulling her tightly against me.

“I love you so much,” she whispered breathlessly.

“I love you, too,” I mumbled. “Oh, Gabi, you have no idea.”

“Should we go home?” she asked, a little reluctantly.

I pulled away and sighed, smoothening her hair back behind her ears. “Can we walk?” I asked.

“Why?” she wrinkled her brow.

“So we have more time alone. I’ll come get the car tomorrow.”

She grinned. “Okay, husband,” she giggled.

As much as I wanted to just get in the car, speed all the way home, get the guests out of the house, and peel off her clingy sunflower dress, I just grabbed her hand and strolled home slowly, relishing in the cool evening wind and watching the streets turn dark and the lights turn on as night approached; knowing that days like this came only once in a blue moon, not only because we would rarely get time alone with the twins around, but also because it marked the date that we first became family. And that, along with Gabi’s wonderful presence, was more than enough for me to overcome any kind of obstacle that could possibly come my way.


	29. Twin Power

Gabi’s POV

Johann was sitting on the ground outside the laundry room as I carried the huge basket of clean laundry out. His little yellow rabbit, now much more ragged than it used to be, was tucked under his arm, and he peered up at me expectantly.

“What’s up?” I smiled.

He opened his mouth wide, showing his four front teeth, and jabbed his finger towards it with much zest. Then he made a pinching motion with his finger and his thumb and put them in his mouth. After he was done, he looked back at me.

“You’re hungry again?” I asked. “You just ate breakfast, baby. When dada is back with the potatoes, then I’ll make mashed potatoes for you, okay?”

He pouted at me as I began to walk past him. Suddenly, he reached out, letting go of his bunny, and wrapped both his arms tightly around my left calf. “Nooooooooooooo,” he whined, pressing his cheek against my leg.

“Come on, baby, be good,” I set the basket on the floor and pried his hands off my calf. Instead of sitting back down, he grabbed higher up my leg and hoisted himself into a standing position.

The twins had started cruising around on their feet as long as they had something of chest height to hold on to, and the house was getting so much messier because we had to baby-proof all the table and chair legs. It was fine the first few times they’d crawled around, but then they’d started bumping into things when they could crawl a little faster. And then they’d started cruising on their feet, their favourite activity being holding on to Julius or Lennox (or both!) and letting the dogs pull them along. It was so tiring to chase them around all day, and we had to leave them on the first floor so they wouldn’t roll down the stairs.

Johann reached out further and tugged on my shorts, pulling them down my left hip. I let out an exasperated sigh as I bent over and hoisted him up on my arm. “Okay, I’ll give you a sugar lump. Just one, okay?”

He slapped my cheeks excitedly as we went into the kitchen, obviously knowing that the kitchen was a place for food. I reached into the sugar box and produced a single sugar lump, which I popped into his mouth for him to suck. Of course, that wasn’t enough for him, and his eager hands wandered towards the open box.

“No, no,” with another sugar lump in my hand, I turned him away from the sugar box and made my way outside to find Mia. “Mia!” I called.

She was nowhere to be seen – until she rolled out from behind the wall separating the dining area and the living room, landing on her stomach and grinning at me. “Mia!” she reported.

I burst out laughing. Mia had been rolling around as often as she could after she’d mastered the act of rolling from back to front. She did 360-degree side-rolls all over the house. Kicking, albeit her favourite action, couldn’t get her anywhere, so rolling around like a roll of sushi had become her primary mode of transport.

I went over and knelt down beside her. “Aaaah,” I said, and she opened her mouth for me to pop the sugar lump in. “Good girl.”

I turned to Johann, who was finally smiling again. “Play with your sister, okay?” I told him.

“Kay,” he said, crawling out of my arms and next to Mia. Together, they proceeded towards the makeshift blanket and pillow fort that we’d built for them in the ground floor guestroom after removing the bed – Johann crawling his way there and Mia rolling along behind him. At the sound of the word ‘play,’ they’d automatically head towards their little corner.

I sighed again, relieved this time, as I picked up the basket of laundry again and headed to the couch to fold the clothes up. Just as I’d emptied the clothes onto the couch, the front door opened and Toni appeared.

“Nooooooooo,” I groaned, aware that I sounded as whiny as Johann, and flopped over on the couch over all the clothes.

Toni burst out laughing as soon as he saw me. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“I literally just sat down,” I whined, not moving to face him. “And now I have to make mashed potatoes for them because you’re back, and then I have to fold these clothes and put the new batch into the washing machine, and –“

“Shhhhhhh,” he interrupted, placing the bag of potatoes and another bag of groceries on the coffee table. He lifted me gently and pulled out a few pieces of clothing from the pile. “I’ll help you.”

He continued doing so as I lay there exhausted. Soon, Johann and Mia were attracted by the sound of his voice or just his presence in general, and they started crawling (and rolling) towards us.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Toni said to Mia as she ended her roll at his feet and gazed up at him happily. “Looking good today.”

She giggled and continued gazing at him as Johann grabbed the top of the coffee table and hoisted himself to his feet. Catching sight of the potatoes and the grocery bag on the table, he reached out and fumbled with them, pulling them towards him – only to have a few potatoes roll off the table and onto his little right foot.

He fell onto his butt and started wailing loudly, frantically grabbing his foot with both hands and attempting to soothe it by placing it in his mouth.

“Oh, baby, shhhh,” Toni cooed, reaching over and grabbing Johann. He gently removed Johann’s foot from his mouth and massaged it with his hands. Johann grabbed tightly onto Toni’s arm and continued sobbing, his body shaking with apprehension, pain, and a little fear. Toni smiled at him as he continued massaging his foot. “It’s just a little booboo.”

“Booboo,” Johann repeated, hiccupping.

“Poor baby,” I reached over and wiped his tears with my thumbs. “It’ll be fine in a while. Don’t be scared, dada will make it all better.”

After a long period of silence only mildly punctuated by Johann’s soft sobbing and the sound of Mia thrashing about on the floor, Johann suddenly said with a thick voice, “Dada.”

Toni froze, his hands still grabbing onto Johann’s chubby foot. He turned and stared at me with a look of pure amazement on his face, and we continued staring at each other until Johann dug his nails into Toni’s arm and shook it violently, urging him to continue the massage. “DADA,” he whined.

Toni’s gaze shot back to him, and he completely ignored Johann’s wails and shrieks, instead grabbing him by the underarms and lifting him high up in the air.

“Oh, baby, you’ve made me the happiest man alive!” he exclaimed, jiggling Johann about in the air. Soon, he forgot the pain in his foot and started smiling, enjoying the view from up there. He wiggled his limbs around, asking Toni for a hug.

Of course, Toni eagerly gave him one, hugging him tightly against his chest. He gave me a lopsided smile as he rested his cheek on Toni’s shoulder.

“How’s your booboo?” I asked, stroking his cheek with my finger.

“Boo…boo?” he asked, confused, before grabbing a handful of Toni’s hair and yanking on it. “Dada.”

“He forgot all about it!” I laughed. “Oh, I’ll never get tired of babies and their weird habits.”

Toni was grinning as he pulled away from the hug and put Johann on his lap. To test him again, he pointed to himself. After a moment’s hesitation, Johann said softly, “Dada.”

And then Toni pointed towards me, and Johann’s gaze followed his finger – but he was too confused to say anything, and his mouth fell open in astonishment as he stared at me, as if he wanted to put a name to the face he saw every day, but he just couldn’t.

Just then, Mia, who was watching the entire scene intently from her spot on the floor, piped in. “MAMA!!!” she chirped, clapping her hands.

Toni pointed to himself, and Mia hesitated for a few moments before grabbing her dirty green teddy and stuffing its arm in her mouth.

“Da…?” she said, her voice muffled. Toni nodded encouragingly at her, and she removed the drool-covered teddy from her mouth. “DADADADADADADADA!”

Toni and I burst out laughing in unison. “Does she know she only has to say it twice?” he asked.

“Da-da,” I told Mia. “Da…da.”

“DADA!” she shrieked.

“There!” I beamed at Toni, who scooped her up from the ground with a big smile on his face. He leaned over and kissed me quickly on the lips as the twins chanted ‘dada’ in unison from his lap. “See, they’re your biggest fans!” I told him proudly.

“And I am theirs,” he booped the both of them on their noses. He grabbed Johann’s fat arm and shook it. “Call mama.”

“Muh…” he mumbled, grabbing his foot and shaking it in Toni’s face. “MUUHHHHH.”

With an arm around Mia, Toni grabbed Johann’s foot and continued rubbing it. “Does it still hurt?” he asked. “This foot is going to score many many goals next time, okay?”

“Kay,” Johann replied, watching Toni’s moves intently.

“Goooood boy,” Toni praised. It was lovely to see him speak so gently to the twins – he always used a completely different tone of voice. It was even different from how he spoke to me. It was almost a childish tone; much more high-pitched and squeaky than his usual voice.

I reached over and smoothened Toni’s hair where Johann had messed it all up. “I’m going to make their mashed potatoes,” I told him. “Can you handle the laundry? There’s another batch to load in the washing machine.”

“Sure, baby,” he said in his normal voice. “Don’t worry about us.”

I stood and grabbed the potatoes that had fallen on the ground. It was apparently much to Johann’s shock and despair, because he shrunk backwards into Toni’s arms in fear.

“He likes them better when they’re mashed,” Toni laughed, before switching to his baby voice again and jiggling Johann’s cheeks. “Right, baby? You don’t like getting bullied by the potatoes.”

I headed to the kitchen as he set the twins on the ground and patted their backsides, sending them back to their little fort. There was a huge, proud smile on my face that I just couldn’t erase as I prepared lunches for us and the twins.

Toni’s POV

I packed the folded laundry into the closet after I was done, heading towards the laundry room with the empty basket. As I was walking past the guestroom, Johann and Mia popped their heads out and grinned at me.

“Dada,” I whispered to them, and their grins grew wider as they opened their arms towards me, landing on their chests.

“DAADAAAAAAAA,” they called in unison.

I heard Gabi laughing from the kitchen as she was making their mashed potatoes. I smiled and tilted my head in the direction of the laundry room. “Wanna do laundry with dada?” I asked them.

“Daduhhhhh,” Johann said, one of the yellow bunny ears in his mouth.

“Come on,” I told them, and they followed me as I walked to the laundry room; Johann crawling on all fours and Mia rolling along like a rolling pin. I would never understand why she loved to do that. She never got dizzy.

They sat down obediently at the side as I sorted through the basket of dirty clothes, which consisted mostly of their onesies, baby clothes, blankets and bibs. I threw each piece into the washing machine after checking that they didn’t have any poop or weird stains on them.

Just as I was reaching the bottom of the basket, Mia suddenly got on her hands and knees and started crawling eagerly towards it, despite Johann desperately grabbing on to her to stop her. She just dragged him along with her. When she was within reach, she grabbed the rim and attempted to climb into the basket.

Except that she was too small to do it, and she ended up flipping the entire basket over so that it covered both her and Johann and caused all the remaining clothes to rain down on the both of them.

There was a short period of silence as we all tried to comprehend what had just happened, and then there was a soft giggle coming from under the basket. Mia dug her way through the pile of clothes and peered at me through one of the holes in the basket. “Dada,” she called, a little sheepishly.

I shook a finger at her. “Naughty girl. Now you’re trapped.”

She pouted at me as a mini earthquake happened behind her, and a few seconds later Johann managed to shake off all the clothes and stared at his surroundings, confused.

Laughing, I reached over and removed the basket, bathing light all over them again. Mia laughed gleefully, flinging her arms around and making the clothes fly in the air. After a few moments, Johann sat up and joined her. I tried to stop them by grabbing from them every piece that they picked up. Quickly, they got what I was doing and started handing me the pieces one by one.

“Aww, you wanna help?” I asked. “That’s so nice of you.”

They continued holding them up impatiently, so I just continued with the job, until suddenly Mia held out one of Gabi’s bras towards me.

“What’s this doing here?” I asked no one in particular, as Mia wiggled the bra anxiously. “Mama must have put it in the wrong basket.”

I took it from her and put it back on the floor, only to have her grab it and hold it out to me again. Every time I put it on the floor, it’d end up back in her hands. She crawled closer each time, determined to make me take the bra. Soon, Johann joined her in their twin ranks, grabbing the other side of the bra and holding it out towards me so that the dark purple fabric was just right in my face.

When I failed to respond, they crawled up into my lap and propped the bra on my head, where it teetered precariously until Johann reached over and hooked the straps under my ear, effectively securing it on the top of my head. After he was done, the both of them sat back and examined their work, clapping as they did so.

“Okay, if it makes you happy,” I muttered.

“Lunch!!!” Gabi called from the kitchen.

“Okay!” I yelled, grabbing the remaining dirty laundry and checking for stains before dumping them in the washing machine. The twins sat in front of the little window and watched with a rare 100% concentration as the clothes started spinning, their mouths falling open and drool slowly falling out. I knew then that it would be the perfect way to keep them occupied whenever we needed to.

“Mia,” I called, but she ignored me. I reached over and nudged her, and she fell over and knocked Johann over with her, the both of them lying there in a heap, hypnotised by the spinning of the washing machine.

Sighing in exasperation, I picked the both of them up and put them in the laundry basket as they struggled and kicked around, wanting to stay near the fascinating spinning window. They wriggled and whined, making a huge fuss.

“What’s wrong?” Gabi yelled from the kitchen.

“Nothing, we’re coming!” I sat them so they faced each other. “Wanna go for a ride?”

I bent over and pushed the basket out of the laundry room as they continued to pine for the washing machine, but as soon as I started making engine noises, they stopped and began to enjoy the ride. We ran into Julius and Lennox in the hallway, and they got tugged along mercilessly by the twins.

They were giggling by the time we reached the dining area, where Gabi was setting out the plates. We stopped behind her, and the twins hoisted themselves into a standing position by grabbing Gabi’s legs.

“Hey,” she smiled lovingly at them before turning to me. I was sitting next to the basket, exhausted from all the activity. As soon as she caught sight of me, she burst out laughing.

“What?” I asked, in a panting heap on the ground.

“You…why…” she choked. “Why do you have…my bra…on your head?”

“Oh,” I gasped, my hands immediately flying to my head. I’d forgotten that it was there. “They put it there, I –“

“No, don’t take it off!” she laughed, kneeling down beside me and grabbing my hands. She reached out and patted my head. “You’re like a little hamster. My little hamster. With purple ears.”

“They put it there,” I repeated. “Oh, Gabi, I feel so ridiculous.”

“You  _look_  really ridiculous!” she started laughing again.

“Gabi!” I whined as she fell back on her butt and just sat there laughing at me.

“Oh, this is the best thing I’ve ever seen,” she sighed with tears brimming in her eyes. She reached over and took Mia and Johann in her arms. “Thanks for making daddy look so pretty.”

Gabi didn’t allow me to take the bra off of my head. She burst out laughing every time she turned around and saw me eating my lunch with a bra on my head. It was only until she was completely engrossed in feeding Johann his second serving of mashed potatoes that I could finally take it off without her noticing.

She stared at me in dismay as I tried in vain to smoothen my messy hair. “Where’s my little hammy?” she pouted.

I rolled my eyes. “No one can know that happened, okay? That was the most embarrassing thing ever! Oh, the things I do for those two!”

She laughed. “Yeah, the things we do for you two,” she sighed, gazing over at the twins, who were busy sticking their fingers into the mashed potatoes and then stuffing them into their mouths, causing a huge mess all over the table and their clothes. She reached over and ruffled their hair. “Do you know how much we love you two?”

Johann grinned at her. “Wurv!” he exclaimed. “Wooooooorv.”

“You love mama and dada too?” she asked.

“Wurv?” he asked, confused, biting down on his potato-covered fingers. He paused for a few moments before nodding violently at Gabi.

“Awwww,” Gabi giggled, holding him close to her and staining the front of her shirt with the exotic mix of saliva and mashed potatoes.

“I don’t want them to grow up,” I told her.

“Me neither,” she sighed again. “Oh well, they’ll always be our little girl and boy, no matter how big they get.”

“I don’t doubt that,” I whispered, as she returned Johann to his seat and the both of us sat there hand in hand, staring at the twins doing their thing, playing around with the food and with each other – knowing that these times would soon pass, and our babies would soon become children, adolescents, and then adults, and who knew what would have happened by then? We only knew that one thing wouldn’t change, and that was our love for them. So we just sat there, sharing the silent mutual agreement to do nothing but watch, savouring every moment of our precious children growing up. 


	30. DJ, Cowboy, Daddy's Pet

Toni’s POV

“Will I ever hear you call me mama, huh?” Gabi asked Johann as she jiggled a rattle toy in front of him.

“Muhhhhh,” was all he said in response.

“Mama,” Mia grinned at her, as if she understood and she was reassuring her, although I was sure she was just repeating it after Gabi.

Gabi reached over and smoothened Mia’s hair. “Hey, Mia,” she said, and Mia made a kissy face at her. In response, Gabi made one too, but she couldn’t kiss her because Johann was sat in between them.

We were in the car on a road trip to San Sebastián, and I’d been driving for almost two hours. Gabi and the twins were in the backseat, and fortunately they’d been really obedient during the ride so far. In fact, they were obedient most of the time anyway, and that in itself was a blessing.

“Will you at least say your name?” Gabi continued coaxing Johann. “Say ‘Johann.’”

“Yo,” was all he said.

“Yo!” I greeted, laughing, and Gabi rolled her eyes at me.

“Yo-hahn,” she said, stroking Johann’s blonde hair gently. “Yo…hahn.”

“YO!” he screeched, wriggling about in his little booster seat.

“Well, there goes my football dreams for you, my son,” I teased. “You’ll be a DJ.”

“Toni!” she exclaimed. “Concentrate on the road.”

“Okay, fine,” I said, still watching them from the rearview mirror. The road ahead was rather quiet and straight, anyway.

She turned back to Johann. “Say ‘yo’ again,” she instructed.

“Yo,” he repeated obediently.

“Good, baby, you’re halfway there. Now say ‘hahn.’”

“YOOOOOOOOOO,” Johann screeched.

“No, baby, don’t say ‘yo’ anymore. Say ‘hahn.’”

“YOOOOOOOOOO,” he said again.

I burst out laughing. “See? He’s totally gonna be a DJ.”

Gabi ignored me. “Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhnnnn,” she dragged it out so Johann would listen.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaa,” Johann said – and then he just stopped there. “Ha!”

“That’s his DJ name,” I narrated. “DJ Yooha.”

Much to my surprise, Gabi burst out laughing instead of getting mad at me. “Oh, that sounds so adorable,” she giggled.

“It’s not supposed to sound adorable, it’s a DJ name!” I exclaimed. “Yooha. Okay, it does sound a little adorable.”

“He sounds like a little cowboy,” she sighed, messing up his blonde locks.

“YOOHA,” Johann repeated, as if to confirm her point.

“That’s not your name, baby,” she poked him on the cheek.

“Baby,” he mumbled, distracted by his little cloth football.

“Say ‘yo-hahn.’”

There was a short period of silence when suddenly, Johann dropped his little football on the floor. He wriggled about in his seat for a few moments before he realised he was never going to reach it, and he slumped over lazily over the front. Then, just as it looked like he was going to give up and start playing with another toy, he called for help with a single word, “Mama…?”

Gabi, who had been staring at the road ahead, spun around and stared at him. She didn’t bend over to pick up the toy; she just stared at him. And he stared back at her anxiously. “Mama,” he called again, jabbing his finger urgently towards the fallen football.

“Oh, okay,” she whispered, hurrying to pick the soft toy up and passing it back into his arms. She sat there and stared at him for a little longer before suddenly reaching over and hugging him as tightly as she could. “Oh, I love you so much, Johann.”

He giggled as she shook him around. “Mama,” he called again.

“Mama!” Mia joined in, just as she always did.

“I love you two,” Gabi sighed, reaching over and adjusting Mia’s flower headband. “You’re my favourite babies in the entire world.”

“What about me?” I asked.

“You’re  _all_  my favourite babies,” she added.

I pulled over near a gas station. “Pee break,” I announced.

“Peeeeee,” Mia repeated.

“You mean diaper change break?” Gabi sighed in mock exhaustion.

She changed the twins’ diapers as I headed to the washroom, and after she was done, it was time for us to switch positions; I took over the twins in the backseat, and Gabi would drive the remaining two hours or so.

Gabi’s POV

“We’re here!” I chirped as I turned the last road bend to the beach. “At least, I think we’re here.”

Toni laughed. “Let’s put our stuff in the room first,” he instructed, so I drove straight ahead to the villa we’d booked for the occasion.

The one-storey apartment opened straight out into the beach via its front garden, and it was bright and airy with a room for Toni and I and another one for the twins, fully equipped with two huge baby cots. There was even a little kitchen and dining area and an outdoor and indoor living area. It was definitely going to be an enjoyable five-day stay for our family’s summer holidays. We’d decided only to spend five days here, because Toni and I had planned a couple getaway – or honeymoon, since we hadn’t had one yet – over the next few weeks or so.

Johann and Mia enjoyed their short rest in their room as we unpacked our things and changed into our beach wear. Then we changed the twins into their new swimming costumes, yellow for Johann and red for Mia again, and we set off to the beach via our front garden.

The air was only punctuated by the twins babbling to themselves and our footsteps on the sand as we walked towards the wide expanse of turquoise water. We managed to find a nice, quiet, and shady spot nearer the end of the beach, and we proceeded to set up our mats and the twins’ sandcastle tools.

It was just after 3 in the afternoon, so it was perfect for the twins to stay out and get kissed by the sun. We joined them in their sandcastle-building for a while, helping them to lift the containers which were too heavy and teaching them how to flip them over. After a while, though, Toni and I managed to build one of our own while the kids played around aimlessly with their little lumps of sand.

Toni drew four stick figures on the sand below the castle, two larger than the others, and poked me with the stick. “How do you like our new house?”

“I love it,” I smiled.

Just then, there was a loud wail from behind us. We turned around and saw that Johann was sitting in a crying heap while Mia was smashing the “castle” – it looked more like a mere lump of sand – that he’d built.

“Mia, no,” I called, and she immediately stopped stabbing the sand with her plastic shovel and turned to stare at me. “You’re supposed to build it, not destroy it.”

She just stared at me, confused, so I pointed to the castle that I’d built with Toni. Her eyes widened when she saw it, and she crawled eagerly towards it, presumably to smash it with her shovel.

“No, baby,” I grabbed her before she got within reach. She struggled in my arms, wanting to get closer to the castle. “Okay, okay, here you go,” I put her on the ground and built a small lump of sand in front of her. Then I handed her the shovel and let her smash that little mound, which she did with much zest. Soon, she was laughing again, and I turned to Toni with a relieved sigh.

He was gently guiding Johann’s arms and helping him to build a new sand lump, patiently filling the plastic tools and helping him to flip them over. There was a smile on his face as he spoke softly to Johann, who was admittedly more interested in the sand. Soon, Johann had forgotten about his smashed sand lump and continued to build his sandcastle happily, so Toni turned to me with a satisfied smile.

“I love you,” I blurted out before I could help it.

He smiled, scooting over and draping his arm around my shoulder. “I love you too, baby. You like it here?”

“I do,” I leaned my head on his shoulder. “The water is beautiful.”

“Like the seawater you call my eyes?”

I laughed. “No,” I whispered. “That’s reserved only for Perissa. Only the water there is the colour of your eyes.”

Suddenly, Mia popped her head out from beside me, holding a lump of sand in her hands. She held it out towards me, seemingly wanting me to take it, so I did, transferring the sand gently from her hands to mine.

Giggling happily to herself, she reached over and smashed the sand with her fists, hitting it over and over again until all the sand flew out of my hands and into the surroundings. After she was done, she grabbed my fingers for support and crawled into my lap, sitting on my legs as she played with the sand in front of us.

“We have to teach her to be more of a lady,” Toni noted.

“It’s okay,” I laughed, playing with her soft brown curls. “She’ll blow all the other lady footballers away.”

“That’s true,” he smiled.

“She has your seawater eyes,” I told him as Mia turned around and smiled at me. “I love her eyes.”

“She’s going to grow up to be as beautiful as you.”

Just then, Johann started tugging urgently on his shirt to get his attention. Once Toni turned around, he jabbed his finger eagerly towards the little sand empire he’d built – which was just a series of sand lumps stacked up on each other. There were three or four of these “castles,” each of different height.

“Awww,” Toni said proudly, hoisting Johann into his lap. “Clever boy.”

With the twins finally satisfied with their sand activities, we decided to bring them into the water. We sat near the edge of the sea, where the waves were just strong enough to cover our thighs as we sat down, and let the kids splash around as we held them.

After a while, they were getting more comfortable with the water, so we brought them further out – while holding them firmly of course. As we’d expected, Mia was having a whale of a time, kicking and splashing around with all her might. Johann was trying his best to catch up, although he was more interested in splashing water at Toni’s face.

“Okay, baby, shhhh,” Toni said as some salt water went into his mouth. He let go of Johann for a few moments, only to find him flinging his arms around and actually gaining some distance, floating further out into the sea and away from him.

“Oh, shit, oh, damn it,” Toni sputtered, frantically wiping his face and flailing after a giggling Johann. “Come back, baby. Don’t leave daddy.”

I watched in amusement as he lost his footing and made a big splash as he landed in the water, before he stretched his arms and grabbed Johann’s foot to drag him back. “Oh, thank God,” he panted. “Don’t do that again, okay?” he smoothened Johann’s wet hair back on his head.

“Do that again, that was entertaining,” I laughed.

“Gabi!” he exclaimed. “Mia, mummy’s being naughty. You should splash her as well.”

As if she understood, Mia suddenly emerged from the water with a huge splash, opening her arms and splashing water all over the three of us.

Toni sighed. “Well, that works.”

We spent the rest of the evening trying to teach the twins how to swim by waving their arms around in the right movements. As the sun was sinking into the horizon, the both of them finally managed to paddle the short distance between me and Toni.

“They’re so clever,” I told Toni as Mia covered the distance for the millionth time and crashed straight into Toni’s chest, giggling maniacally.

“They are,” he grinned, giving her a kiss on the nose. “Because they have our clever genes.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “I think we should go back inside,” I told him, just as Johann started yawning from in front of me, accidentally swallowing some water and starting to choke. “Oh, baby, shhh,” I patted his back urgently until he was done coughing out all the water. “Come on, let’s give you some clean water.”

We propped the twins up on our shoulders and carried them back to shore to feed them some water before we packed everything up and headed back to our villa. The sun had just set, and the sky was dark purple. We’d expected the twins to be exhausted from all the activity, but instead they decided that they were hungry. Babies are so strange.

After feeding them from a jar of baby food, we bathed them thoroughly, checking for any scrapes or small injuries. As expected, they fell asleep halfway through, and it was all we could do to dress them up and put them together in the extra-large cot without waking them up.

Too tired to wait any longer, Toni and I showered together, quickly yet thoroughly, and we were settled in bed within half an hour after he helped me dry my hair.

“Night, baby,” I said as he tucked my head comfortably in the crook of his neck.

“Night, Gabriele,” he mumbled sleepily.

“I love you,” I said, but there was no answer except for his soft snoring. Smiling, I snuggled up closer to him and closed my eyes, the wonderful scenes of earlier that day flashing through my head as I lay there in his arms.

Toni’s POV

I turned around towards Gabi’s side in my sleep, only to find that there was no one there. Confused, I opened my eyes and felt in the darkness for her. As my eyes adapted to the dark room, I realised that she really wasn’t there.

I wandered into the living area and saw that the sliding doors leading to the front garden were open and a slight breeze was ruffling the curtains. There was a dark figure sitting on the swing in the front garden. I made my way outside and stood beside the swing, where Gabi was rocking gently back and forth with one leg propped up on the seat and the other used to guide the swing.

She smiled when she saw me, and patted the seat next to her. “Hey, baby,” she said softly.

“Can’t sleep?” I asked as I sat down.

“I was just thinking…of some stuff,” she sighed as she leaned on my shoulder.

“What stuff?”

She remained silent for a long while as we stared out at the beach, now completely quiet, and as the high tide washed up half of the beach, producing a soothing, hypnotising sound. The moon was hanging brightly in the sky, casting a grey hue on our surroundings. It was so peaceful and serene, the entire place being so quiet we could almost hear our hearts beat in unison.

“Do you think I should get a job?” she asked after the long hesitation.

“Gabi, we’re on vacation. Why are you thinking about getting a job?”

“It just, you know…popped into my mind,” she grabbed my hand and traced circles on the back of it with her thumb. “Maybe…maybe that’s what’s missing. Maybe if I had a job, I would find myself fitting in better here. In Spain.”

“What about the two of them?” I asked, referring to the twins.

She shrugged. “I could get a stay-home job. You know, since I can write from home.”

“Are you sure you won’t get too stressed out or anything?”

“I won’t,” she kissed the back of my hand. “I think it’s good for everybody.”

“You don’t have to, you know? There’s enough money for me to support all three of you.”

“I know, baby,” she said. “I just…wanna try and make this better.”

“Don’t stress yourself out, okay?” I kissed the top of her head. “Please talk to me. About anything. Everything.”

“I will,” she promised. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” I lifted her face and kissed her lips gently. “Always, Gabi. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t.”

——

We spent the remaining time in San Sebastián just lazing around in the spacious apartment, taking walks down the streets, trying the dainty little cafes, walking through the parks, visiting museums, and of course, tanning on the beach. The twins were having the best time of their lives, and they looked perfectly sun-kissed by the time we were ready to return home.

The twins had fallen asleep in the backseat when we reached the halfway point of our drive home, so Gabi joined me in the passenger seat as I took over the wheel. She was uncharacteristically quiet throughout the journey, and I attributed it to fatigue, so I didn’t try and talk to her.

But I realised it was otherwise when we were stopped at a red light and I turned to watch her – only to see her leaning her forehead against the side window and examining the surroundings intently.

“Anything wrong?” I asked.

She turned to gaze at me with wide, apprehensive eyes, and she remained silent and staring even as the light turned green and I started the car again. Yet again, she spent a long time analysing if she should tell me what was wrong. After a long while, she finally leaned back on the headrest and gave a soft sigh.

“Do you think we’ve changed?” she asked softly. “Do you think having the twins changed us? You and me?”

I reached over to take her hand, but they were crossed over her chest, so I just asked, “Do  _you_ think we’ve changed?”

She sighed again, moving her gaze back to the side window. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I don’t know, Toni.”

“Why not?” I asked gently, but there was no reply.

We just sat in unorthodox awkward silence as we travelled the rest of the way home – a silence not unlike the last one we’d sat through when Gabi had kissed me on the side of the road, when she hadn’t yet remembered she loved me. It was a long car ride, and the silence only made it longer; the question she’d asked hung above our heads like a dark cloud waiting to explode and pour down on us, but not just yet.


	31. Sunny Days Ahead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song accompanying this chapter is All Of Me by John Legend.

Toni’s POV

The dark cloud had dissipated only a little as we flew to Munich to hand the twins to Gabi’s parents, and then flew to the Maldives for our mini honeymoon. Gabi was quieter than usual, but we were still talking. I didn’t know what was going on with her, but I really wanted to make things right, especially right before our honeymoon.

Gabi was rather tearful as we kissed the twins goodbye, although the both of them didn’t seem to grasp what was going on. Nevertheless, we were only going to spend five days away from them, and we were always going to stay contactable by Gabi’s parents, so nothing much could go wrong.

They were gleefully distracted by Mr. and Mrs. Meiser as we made our getaway to the car outside, and Gabi gave a slightly relieved sigh as she slid into the passenger seat.

“You okay?” I asked. I’d been asking that question too many times over the past couple of days.

“Yeah,” she turned and gave me a rare smile. “Let’s go.”

“Gabi, you have to tell me what’s wrong,” I said as calmly as I could. “You can’t just give me the cold shoulder like that. It’ll just make things worse…there wasn’t even anything going on at first, but now there is. Just talk to me, Gabi.”

“I’m fine,” she insisted. “Nothing’s wrong.”

I just continued staring at her, trying to keep my frustration off my face. Suddenly, she grabbed the back of my neck and pulled my face towards hers so she could kiss my lips. Her soft lips moved urgently, surrounding mine eagerly, as if she was trying to find an answer and get rid of the dark cloud above us. I couldn’t not respond; I slid my fingers into her hair and held her in place, enjoying the feeling of her lips against mine, hoping that it was a sign that everything was okay.

She sighed when she pulled away, her fingers combing through my hair and her bright blue eyes piercing through mine. “Everything is okay,” she repeated. “Let’s go or we’ll miss our flight.”

I leaned over and gave her a kiss on her head before she grabbed my hand and held it for the entire journey to the airport, occasionally giving it gentle squeezes. And then, for that hour, everything was suddenly alright – even though I didn’t know if the problems would resurface.

——

We boarded the plane from Munich at around 9pm, and we almost immediately fell asleep in each other’s arms, remaining in the same position for the six or so hours until we reached Dubai. And then Gabi didn’t get up, so I had no other choice but to carry her on my back off the plane and to the waiting area for our connecting flight, being the centre of many judgemental stares along the way.

Fortunately, the area was rather empty, so I sat down, tucked her head into my shoulder and leaned mine on it. Soon, I fell asleep once again with my arms wrapped protectively around her.

I wasn’t aware how long we’d been sleeping when Gabi suddenly jerked awake, shaking the bench we were on and waking me up in the process. “What…where are we?” she asked, confused.

“Dubai,” I mumbled, pushing her head back down and using it as my pillow.

“DUBAI?!” she exclaimed, and I turned to stare at her. “Where…we…oh.”

“We’re going for –“

“Our honeymoon,” she finished. “I know. I just…okay. Go back to sleep, baby.”

She wouldn’t put her head back on my shoulder, so I just leaned on hers and drifted back to sleep. But she wouldn’t stop fidgeting, and she woke me up every five minutes.

“You’re a horrible pillow,” I grumbled. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just…” she suddenly lifted my head and took my face in both her hands. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I sat upright as I was held in her hands, suddenly worried. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she whispered, still grabbing tightly onto my face, her blue eyes urgent.

“What’s wrong?”

She hesitated only for a split second before she leaned forward and buried her face in my shoulder. “Oh, Toni,” she sobbed. “I had such a bad dream. I dreamt…I dreamt you were gone. You left me…you left me all alone…and the twins…the twins were gone. I was alone…all alone.”

“I’m here now, aren’t I?” I ran my hands gently down her shivering back. “I’ll never leave you.”

“I was so scared,” she whispered.

“Don’t be, baby,” I kissed the top of her head. “I’ll always be here.”

“I’m sorry,” her voice quivered. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, Gabi,” I pressed her tightly against me. “What’s wrong? Talk to me. Please talk to me. You’ve been so quiet. I worry about you, Gabi. Please don’t be like this. Tell me what’s wrong.”

She lifted her head and rested her chin on my shoulder so she was just speaking into my ear. Her body moved with a huge sigh as she started talking.

“Do you think I’ve changed?” she asked. “I feel that…I’ve become more annoying. I don’t know. I realized that I’ve been, you know…rolling my eyes at you a lot, and yelling at you, and complaining and whining. And I know it’s so annoying, and I think about it all the time. I feel so…guilty, and I try to stop myself, but you never say anything about it, and I worry that you…you’re keeping it all inside and that you’re annoyed but you don’t tell me, and one day…one day you…”

“I won’t leave you, Gabi,” I interrupted.

“But I…I…” she sobbed. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be, baby,” I whispered. “Please don’t be. I’ve never gotten annoyed with you. I promise I haven’t. You’re not annoying, and I will never leave you. Have I ever lied to you? I love you, Gabi. I love you so much.”

She stayed silent except for her uncontrollable sobbing, so I continued.

“You asked me if I thought we’ve changed,” I said. “And then you went quiet for two days. And I was so worried, Gabi. I thought it was something I did. I need you to talk to me, I need you to trust me. And I’m going to tell you the truth now – yes, we’ve changed. But we’re still us. We’re still Toni and Gabi and we’re still husband and wife. Remember when you told me that having children might change us, but it would definitely never change the fact that we love each other? That’s still true, Gabi. It will always be true. I love you. And unless you hear those horrible words coming from  _my_  mouth, my feelings for you will never change. Ever. We will always be Toni and Gabi as long as you want to. Don’t let your mind haunt you, baby.”

“I’ll try not to be so annoying,” she whispered. “I won’t yell at you, or whine, or –“

“Gabi, I don’t care. It just means that we’re more comfortable with each other, don’t you see? You can roll your eyes at me all you want. Look at  _you_. You sit through all my terrible jokes and me spoiling you and the twins. And have you ever complained? No! And I’m not complaining either. So why are you so worried? Please don’t torture yourself like this. We’re still us, I promise. We’re just a more…playful and spontaneous version of ourselves. And that’s what we promised each other, isn’t it? We promised that we’d grow together with our children. And we’re doing just that.”

“Oh,” she sobbed. “Oh, yeah.”

“Please don’t cry anymore, okay?” I ran my hand down her hair. “I’ll always be here. I promise. You just have to talk to me.”

“Okay,” she whispered. “I love you.”

“I love you too, baby,” I pulled away and kissed her head. “Give me a smile.”

She gave me a weak, trembling smile, so I used my thumbs to stretch the corners of her lips to produce a wide grin.

“Toni!” she exclaimed. “Stop stretching my cheeks or I’m going to have saggy cheeks when I’m old.”

I burst out laughing and let go, instead using my thumbs to massage her cheeks gently. “See? That’s the feisty Gabi I love.”

She giggled, wiping her tears with the back of her hand and leaning over to kiss me on the lips. “I love you so much.”

“I love you more,” I wiped the remainder of her tears and held her against my shoulder again. “I think we have around an hour more to wait. Are you still sleepy?”

“A little,” she sighed. “But we can sleep on the plane. Let’s just…sit and talk.”

So we sat there with my right arm around her shoulder and her hands grabbing on to my right forearm; and much to my relief, the smile and glow had returned to her face as she spoke animatedly, and as we caught up with the conversations we’d missed over the past couple of days. And right in those moments, I could almost feel the dark cloud disintegrate from above us.

Gabi’s POV

Perissa had always been our go-to spot for seaside vacations, so it was a nice fresh change to come to the Maldives for our honeymoon. The water was clear and blue, and there wasn’t a speck of land that could be seen from where we were staying, which was a spacious wooden hut that was part of a series of huts arranged in a leaf shape extending into the ocean. By some stroke of luck, we’d managed to get one almost right at the end of the leaf, and although it was far from shore, it offered us a lot of privacy. The neighbours weren’t even close, so that was a nice bonus.

There was a personal path leading in to the hut from the back, and the front steps opened directly into the ocean. The entire hut was spacious and windy, and the huge king-sized bed faced the open front so we had a sea view right before we slept and right after we awoke.

We were exhausted after the thirteen-hour flight and transfer, and the extra hour we took to actually get from Malé to this resort. After the butler left, we just dumped our stuff on the floor and immediately flopped over on the fluffy bed.

“Can we start tomorrow?” Toni mumbled, his voice muffled by the pillow.

“I want to,” I whined. “But it’s only afternoon.”

“Can we start in the evening?” he bargained.

“Okay,” was all I managed to say before we both just fell asleep on our fronts, not even bothering to take off our shoes.

——

The room was still bright when I awoke, and Toni was still in the exact same position next to me – in fact, so was I. I slipped off my shoes and massaged my knees, which had become stiff.

Toni’s cheek was pressed against the mattress and his mouth was open. A soft snore escaped his mouth as I flipped him over and took off his shoes. I wrapped the sheets around him like a burrito and lay back down to watch him sleep.

About a half-hour later, he opened his eyes and looked around, utterly confused, before attempting to move and finding that he was trapped in the sheets.

“Good morning, dumpling,” I laughed.

He stared at me in dismay. “I’m stuck,” he grumbled, his voice still thick with sleep.

I laughed again and unwrapped him from the sheets, sliding over and leaning my head on his chest. “Feeling better?” I asked.

He lifted my chin and examined my face. “Speak for yourself. Are you better?”

“Yeah,” I smiled. “I’m sorry I…acted up.”

He booped me on the nose. “Come on, let’s start this right.”

“Right?” I snuggled up suggestively against him. “Right like how?”

He kissed me hard on the lips. “You know how.”

“How can you be in the mood right now?” I asked in between kisses. “You literally just woke up a minute ago.”

“I’m always in the mood for you, Gabriele.”

I moved my hand down to his jeans and found that it was true. Sliding my hands under his shirt, I asked, “Are you in the mood to claim your reward?”

“What reward?” he breathed.

“The 69-second brace,” I whispered, nibbling at his earlobe.

He froze for a few moments before grabbing me and dragging me on top of him. His seawater eyes were almost completely dark with how dilated his pupils were. “Of course I am,” he whispered back, unzipping my jeans and slipping his hands under them to squeeze my backside.

“Let’s go, then,” I kissed him on the lips.

Without any further conversation, he moved his hands deftly upwards and under my t-shirt, yanking it off above my head before undoing my bra. I did the same to his shirt before moving to unbuckle his belt and unzip his jeans. After we were done wriggling out of our pants, he grabbed all the clothes and threw them on the ground. And then, in another swift move, he grabbed me by the waist and lifted me so I was sitting on his face.

Before I could react in any way at all, his tongue was deep inside me and his hands moving north so they cupped my breasts. I cried out in surprise, and I felt him smile against me as he glanced up and made eye contact with me.

I twisted my fingers in his hair in an effort to control myself, but I still found myself moving my hips to the rhythm of his tongue as it moved quickly, slickly, urgently; as his hands kneaded gently yet urgently, pushing me higher, higher…until I was on the brink…so close…so high…

Too breathless to say a word, I yanked hard on his hair instead – but he didn’t get the hint, or he refused to acknowledge it, because he only went quicker, harder, more intense…until I was eventually tipped off the brink, and I fell…oh, I fell so hard, I was almost blinded by a huge flash of light. After everything had died down and I’d finished falling, I found myself sitting lower down on Toni’s torso, collapsed over on his chest while he caressed my hair gently.

“Wow,” I breathed.

He kissed me hard on the lips. “My turn,” he whispered.

I smiled at him, leaning down to kiss his lips again. This time, he shoved his tongue eagerly between my lips, letting me taste my own saltiness. His hands moved up and tangled into my hair, trapping me against him. It wasn’t until I pulled away gently and started tracing kisses down his neck and on his chest did he grasp what I was going to do, and he let go gladly.

I made my way down to his man parts slowly, agonizingly, making him raise his hips in anticipation. As I reached it with my lips, I took it in my mouth without any further hesitation, smiling as he hissed loudly in pleasure.

As soon as I started, it felt so natural. Even though I’d only done it once before, I knew exactly what to do, especially since it was Toni I was doing it on. I swirled the tip with my tongue as he thrashed about slightly, before attempting to sit up. Finally getting a grip on my waist, he turned and dragged me so I was straddling his face once again. And before I could respond, I was filled another time by his tongue.

“Oh,” I whispered as he hit the exact spot where it mattered, and I realized I was probably going to have another incredible orgasm – sending a vibration and a gust of air against his hardness and making him moan loudly in response.

“Oh, Gabriele,” he groaned as I cupped his shaft and slid my hand up and down while my tongue did its work. My hands and lips moved coordinately, sending shivers down his spine and against me, and eventually, the both of us were moving in unison once again.

I gave a yelp as his fingers reached my opening and slipped inside and then out quickly, jolting me upright before I sunk back down and returned him into my mouth. His other hand moved up my waist, his fingers spreading and caressing every inch of my skin, until it reached my breasts again and cupped one gently, teasing the nipple with his fingertips. Apparently, the combination of what I was doing to him and what  _he_  was doing to my body was having an immense effect on him, because he began to taste much saltier.

I took him out of my mouth and stroked him gently. “Wait for me, baby,” I whispered.

In response, he gave a loud moan against my lady parts, the vibration travelling through my body as a shiver. His hands began to move more urgently, as did his tongue, and soon I was in that familiar place again; right at the edge of the cliff, waiting for Toni to push me off…and for him to catch me when I landed at the bottom.

I took him back in my mouth and we continued where we left off, moving in sync, knowing exactly how the other liked it – mere seconds later, we were both pushed off the cliff at the same time, relishing in all its saltiness, falling…faster and faster…

I found myself half draped over Toni’s lower body when I next opened my eyes. My hair was sticky, wet, and plastered all over my face, and my nether regions were sore. My foot was being gently grasped and the arch being kissed by none other than Toni.

I turned and wrapped my arms around his thigh like it was a bolster. “Oh, Toni,” I whispered.

“That was the best reward ever,” he replied from behind my foot.

I leaned my cheek on his thigh. “I had two,” I told him proudly, giggling.

“You owe me one,” he teased.

“Okay, do you want to claim it now?” I smiled.

He sat up, grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me down next to him. His hair, too, was dark with sweat and plastered on his forehead. “I’ll save it for another day,” he kissed my head.

A quick shower later, I’d changed into my yellow bikini and Toni his shorts, and we’d wandered down our front steps into the wide expanse of the Indian Ocean that was accessible to us, dipping in it to wash ourselves off.

Toni and I found a rock which was just large enough for the both of us to sit on with our bodies still submerged, and we sat facing the horizon to watch the sun go down.

“You know how you always say the Perissa seawater is the colour of my eyes?” Toni asked with his arm draped over my shoulder and his fingers toying lazily with the ends of my ocean-soaked hair.

“Yeah,” I whispered. “It really is.”

“These waters,” he continued, sweeping his hand in a semicircle over the water surface in front of him. “Are the colour of  _your_  eyes. They don’t look like it now because of the sunset, but your eyes are the exact colour of the water here.”

“Really?” I smiled as I leaned on his shoulder. “Thank you. The water here is beautiful.”

“Your eyes are an ocean, Gabi,” he whispered. “Mine are a sea, but yours are an ocean. The most beautiful ocean in the universe. And I can get lost in them anytime I wish, because you’re mine. Thank you for being mine.”

I leaned over and kissed the side of his neck.

“I wouldn’t want to be anyone else’s,” I whispered back.


	32. Sunlight, Moonlight, I Will Always Love You

Toni’s POV

I was lounging on our sunny front deck when Gabi emerged from underwater and climbed up the front steps forlornly, violently scratching at the back of her neck.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, taking off my cap and squinting at her.

“I think I’m sunburnt,” she grumbled as she sat down in the sun lounger next to me and draped a dry towel over herself. “It’s itchy and painful everywhere.”

“Really? Let me see,” I reached over and moved her hair to the side so I could examine the area she was picking at. Indeed, there was a patch of red, sensitive skin on the back of her neck as well as other small patches over her shoulders. “Aww, I think you are.”

“It hurts,” she pouted, gathering her hair up in a bun.

“Come on, let’s see what we can do,” I grabbed her hand and dragged her inside our wooden hut. It was only our third day in the Maldives, and Gabi was already a few tones darker. Her cheeks also appeared to be rosier, and she’d worn what seemed like seven different bikinis – although, of course, I didn’t mind that.

“It’s so dark in here,” she noted as we entered the hut, her brow furrowed.

I burst out laughing. “That’s because you’ve been spending all your time in the brightness outside.”

“And I got sunburnt for that,” she sighed as she sat down on a towel at the edge of our bed.

I dug in our suitcases and found a tube of aloe vera gel that Gabi’s dad had given me with the accompanying reminder that Gabi got sunburnt easily. Plopping down on the bed behind Gabi, I squirted some gel on my palm and dabbed it gently on the red patches on her skin.

“Oooh, it’s cold,” she giggled, squirming about as I slipped my fingers under her bikini straps. She took the opportunity to examine her tan lines. “I’m so dark now.”

“You look pretty,” I said.

“Does that mean I didn’t look pretty before?”

“You did, Gabi, I…oh, you know what I mean!”

“Okay, I do,” she laughed, reaching over and casually pulling my pants and underwear downwards. “Oh, you have a tan line too,” she noted, letting go of my waistband and smirking as it made a loud smacking sound against my skin. She leaned back and examined me from head to toe. “Hmm, you look more Spanish now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” she shrugged. “You’re…darker.”

“Gabi!” I gaped at her. “Don’t be racist!”

“Sorry!” she grabbed my hand and held on tightly. “I just think you’ll look better in white now. You were like the guy version of Snow White, you know? You’re so light-coloured. Like white chocolate.”

“But white chocolate is delicious.”

She licked her lips suggestively before leaning in and kissing mine, biting gently on my lower lip and pulling on it. “It is,” she whispered. “Just like you.”

I slid a hand into her beautiful ash brown hair. “Dark chocolate is delicious, too,” I whispered against her lips. “Like you.”

“You’re deliciouser,” she mumbled.

I burst out laughing. “That’s not a word.”

“I invented it,” she retorted, pulling away and standing up. “Let’s go get some food. All your sweet-talking is making me hungry.”

After covering ourselves up with some more decent clothing, we strolled hand in hand down the wooden platforms all the way past the other villas, until we reached the main reception area, where there was a tea-time buffet – although it was only after 2 in the afternoon and not time for tea yet. We settled on a pair of couches in a shady area outside with plates laden with pastries.

“I’ll miss this place,” Gabi said with blueberry sauce dribbling out of her mouth.

“I find that hard to believe with all the stuff you’re spitting out while speaking,” I told her.

“Okay, and the food here.”

I laughed. We’d had buffets for all our meals here so far, and there was 24-hour room (or hut) service, meaning Gabi could call for food to satisfy her hunger at any time of the day. It was really enjoyable to take a break from all the bustling activities back at home, and enjoying every sunrise and sunset with Gabi was the most romantic thing.

Watching Gabi enjoy herself and laugh joyfully was also one of the best parts for me. She loved splashing around in the water right in front of our hut and floating on her back to get a tan. She’d often get me to wander out as far as we could get without drowning, and so I gladly did. We spent every evening so far sitting on our little rock and watching the sun go down, and we made trips to the mainland beach whenever we could. All I wanted was to hear her laughter and see her beautiful smile. And she was finally doing that again.

Her eyes matched the clear blue waters impeccably, and I wanted to keep that image in my mind forever. Yesterday morning, she put on a sky blue bikini which blended everything together – the sky, the ocean, and her eyes – and it almost blew my mind. I just wanted to capture every moment we’d spent here together, for it was by a large margin the second best holiday Gabi and I had ever had – the first being our holiday to Perissa during which I’d proposed to her.

Gabi’s POV

Toni left me sitting alone at our table as he excused himself to the washroom. There was a cheeky look on his face, and I had a feeling that he wasn’t just attending to the needs of his bowel.

As expected, he returned with a huge grin on his face. “Let’s go back,” he said, extending his hand towards me.

I got up and started to walk towards the bridge to the huts, but Toni tugged on my arm and pulled me in the opposite direction, towards the pier and the open waters.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Back to our place,” he smiled.

“But this is –“

“Shhhh,” he started running and pulling me along. There was a man waiting for us at the end of the pier, and he gestured towards a medium-sized wooden boat floating in the water behind him. There were two paddles attached to the boat and a long beach umbrella lying on the floor. Toni gave my hand a squeeze as he thanked the friendly man and led me down the steps towards the boat.

“What’s this for?” I asked Toni as we sat facing each other and he began paddling further out.

“You love going in the water, but you got sunburnt,” he said, stopping his paddling briefly to point at a little nook at the side of the boat. “You can open the umbrella and stick it in here, and then you can sit in this boat and you’ll still be in the water. I think our front deck also has a place to stick it in.”

“You didn’t have to get this,” I whispered.

He smiled. “Gabi, we don’t get to go away like this all the time now. I just want you to enjoy yourself, okay?”

“Okay,” I whispered. “Thank you.”

We made our way back to our hut silently, after which I ditched my shawl and Toni his t-shirt. The both of us returned to the boat in just our beach wear.

“Let’s just sit here for a while,” I sighed, drowsy after the tea break.

He laughed as he paddled out for a short distance before stopping and climbing to the middle of the boat. As gently as he could so he wouldn’t tip the boat over, he lay across the sides of the boat so his arms rested on one side and his knees were hooked over the other side, his feet swinging over the edge. He cocked his head at me, beckoning me to do the same.

I took out the large beach umbrella, opened it, and stuck it in the little nook. The boat was at just the right angle so that the sun was blocked by the umbrella. I joined him in the middle of the boat, lying across it and swinging my legs over the edge. I tucked my head comfortably into the crook of his neck as we admired the wide expanse of blue water surrounding us.

“I love you so much,” I whispered.

“I love you more,” he kissed the top of my head.

I turned my head towards him and puckered my lips. “Gimme some.”

He was smiling as he leaned over and kissed me hard on the lips, his tongue pushing my lips apart and mingling with mine. “Wanna do something new?” he mumbled.

“What?”

“Sex on a boat.”

“Toni!” I exclaimed, pulling away. “We’re in the open!”

“That’s the point,” he nuzzled my nose with his. “Something new.”

“Well…” I looked around. We were in a rather deserted area a distance away from the leaf shape of huts.

“Come on, baby,” he kissed me on the nose. “You know you want it.”

“ _You’re_  the one who wants it,” I giggled, poking him in the ribs.

“Stop poking me,” he grumbled, reaching over and poking me in return.

Still giggling, I continued poking him as he started tickling my bare sides with his fingers, making me scream in laughter. The boat started rocking violently as our laughter travelled through the breeze. “Stop it!” I shrieked. “We’re gonna fall over!”

Indeed, a few more tickly moments later, the boat tipped over, sending us both and the large umbrella flying into the bright blue ocean.

I was briefly disoriented by the splashing water before I managed to resurface. The water was not very deep, reaching just above my chest. A few seconds later, Toni emerged from next to me with a huge splash. “Well, that was fun,” he grinned.

“So, no sex on a boat, then?” I asked.

“Why, do you want it now?” he smirked.

“Maybe…” I grabbed his hand and pulled him closer to me. “It’ll be better in the water.”

A huge excited smile spread across his face. “Really?” he asked eagerly.

“Yeah,” I whispered, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

“Legs,” he whispered back as he lifted me by the waist. I wrapped my legs around him gladly as his strong arms surrounded my torso and he buried his head in my chest. I could feel his rapidly hardening erection pressing against me.

One of his hands moved slowly down between my legs and pushed my bikini bottom aside so I could feel the water splashing against my sensitive parts. He let out a muffled groan from in between my breasts as two of his fingers slipped inside me. I, on the other hand, grabbed huge handfuls of his wet hair as I rode on his fingers.

A few moments later he removed them, making me whimper in disappointment. But that emptiness was short-lived, because another few moments later his pants were around his knees and he was inside me.

“Oh, baby,” he whispered as we reached a perfect rhythm, moving quickly yet producing no disturbance in the water around us. “You feel…so good…in the water.”

I twisted my fingers in his hair as a shiver rocked my body. “You, too,” I whispered back.

His face remained in between my breasts as I rested my chin on the top of his head, my legs still wrapped tightly around him. It didn’t take a long time before I felt that familiar feeling once again, tipping me off the edge; this time, coupled with the glare of the sunlight, I felt as if a flash grenade had been thrown my way as I climaxed – wonderfully, gloriously, and of course, loudly. There wasn’t anyone else around to hear us, anyway.

Toni mumbled incoherently into my bikini as he emptied himself into me, his hands moving urgently up and down my bare back as I lay draped over his shoulders. He lifted his head to gaze at me when he was done, his body moving with his quick breaths, moving me along with him.

“I love you so much,” he whispered.

“I love you, too,” I unwrapped my legs from around him and stood on the sandy ocean floor, adjusting my bikini bottom so my lady parts were safely covered.

“Nice view,” he said as he pulled his shorts back up.

“What view?” I asked, before noticing that he was staring right at my breasts. I looked down and saw that the front of my bikini had been dragged down, revealing my left beast and trussing it up. I frantically grabbed my top and covered it up safely, only to look back at Toni and see him laughing cheekily. “Why are you laughing at my wardrobe malfunction?!” I demanded.

“It was…a nice malfunction,” he laughed.

“Did you do it?” I asked, and he shrugged. “Toni! How could you! Everyone saw my boob!”

He raised an eyebrow at me as he spread out his arms around us. There was a short period of silence as he waited for me to get it. I looked around – indeed, there wasn’t a single soul near us.

“Fine!” I rolled my eyes at him and took his hand so we could waddle our way back to the boat.

Alas, try as we might, we just couldn’t get onto the boat. It would just flip back over when we tried. About fifteen minutes of trying, we decided to push the boat and the umbrella back to the hut for a drink of water.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Toni asked me as I splashed along beside him, dragging the umbrella.

“You mean like, half an hour ago? Or do you mean this entire holiday?”

He smiled. “All of the above.”

I laughed. “I am, baby. Are you?”

He nodded. “I miss Mia and Johann, though.”

“Awww,” I sighed. “Me, too.”

“Do you think they miss us?”

I smiled. “I think so. They miss their dada spoiling the hell out of them.”

“I miss how drooly and sticky they make me.”

“And also happy?”

“Also happy.”

I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Well, let’s just enjoy our last few days here.”

“We will,” he turned to me and smoothened my wet hair. “I know I will, as long as you’re here.”

Toni’s POV

“Let’s see how far out we can go,” Gabi suggested as we climbed back into the boat after popping into the hut for a drink of water.

“Probably until the edge where the currents get stronger,” I said, and there was silence as I paddled and stopped a distance away from the boundary between shallow and deep water. It was just before five in the evening, and the sun wasn’t that hot anymore, but it wasn’t late enough for sunset.

“Okay, don’t flip the boat or we’ll have to go all the way back,” Gabi laughed.

Carefully, we moved to the middle of the boat and sat just as we did that afternoon, our legs hanging over the edge of the boat. The water in front of us was a much darker blue, indicating much deeper ocean than we were on. We rocked gently along with the waves as we faced the sunset, waiting patiently as the sun slowly sunk down the horizon and bathed us with fiery red.

We sat in silence as the sun disappeared from the sky and darkness overtook our surroundings. The only light we were getting was from the row of huts behind us and from the moon above us.

Gabi gave my hand a squeeze. “We should go back. It’s getting cold.”

So we got back into our positions on opposite ends of the boat and started paddling back at an almost agonisingly slow speed. Gabi was gazing at me throughout the entire journey, her bright blue eyes filled with the deepest affection.

Suddenly, she started singing softly; a Spanish love song which was the first thing I’d learnt when we moved to Madrid, and the first Spanish song I’d ever sung to her and the twins. She gazed dreamily at me as she sung it, although her Spanish was a little broken, and a smile slowly spread across her face.

The silence was almost devastating when she’d finished singing, the last note of her voice slowly fading away in the still night air. She turned behind her to see how far we had left to go, and the smile on her face was still present when she turned back to face me.

“Sing again,” I whispered.

She reached over and grabbed my hands, stopping me from paddling. She pulled them to her lips, planting a gentle kiss on the back of them before returning them to their positions on the paddles.

“I love you,” she said, her voice travelling strongly in the air, flooding my ears, my veins, my heart, and the deepest parts of me that held the deepest feelings for her.

I smiled. It always warmed my heart when she said that spontaneously. “I love you, too,” I said, and her smile grew.

She started singing again, the beautiful melody filling the quietness of the cool night air of the Indian Ocean; and I joined in, the both of us singing the first love song we’d ever known in the language of the country we currently resided in, a song that meant so much to us because it meant that our love would transcend any boundaries, even those of language and of location.

Because it meant that the both of us could overcome any obstacle that ever came in our way; that our love was still love, whether it was in German, in English, or in Spanish. And I don’t think that I’d ever feel as peaceful and serene as I did on that night under the moonlight, singing along with my Gabriele.


	33. 365 Days of Double Delight

Toni’s POV

Gabi heaved a huge sigh as we got out of the car at the Meisers’ doorstep. It was almost surreal to be walking on land again and not having water constantly lapping against our bodies. The both of us were a few tones darker, Gabi much more so than me, and her beautiful aquamarine eyes were being brought out so much more against her tanned skin, much like a jewel in a rock.

She stood on the driveway and took in a huge breath before letting it all out in another sigh. “The air smells different.”

“It smells like drool and diapers?”

She burst out laughing. “Are those their new names? Drool and Diapers?”

“Yeah, but they don’t have to know that.”

She reached over and kissed me sweetly on the lips. “Thank you for the past five days. I really had a great time.”

“I did, too,” I smiled into the kiss. “Thank you. I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” she pulled away and leaned in to hug me. The both of us stood there in each other’s arms for a long while before she pulled away. “Let’s go see our little bundles of joy.”

We were greeted by Mrs. Meiser as we entered the house, and she gave us her huge warm hugs before informing us that the twins were having their afternoon nap. We made our way up the stairs softly to Gabi’s old room, where the twins’ cots were placed.

“Awwww,” Gabi said immediately after she caught sight of them, her voice trembling slightly. “Oh, I didn’t realise it until now, but I’ve missed them so much.”

“Me, too,” I whispered. I went over to Mia, who was plastered against the side of her cot with her mouth wide open, and moved her to the middle in a more comfortable position. “Is it just me, or have they grown a little?”

“They have,” she smiled, joining me and gently removing Johann’s thumb from his mouth.

We stood and watched them as they slept peacefully, and in those moments it was as if we’d never been gone. Even though we were just exhausted and we wanted to go to bed, it was a much better use of our time to watch our precious twins.

They automatically began to stir about an hour later, stretching their arms up in the air before returning them next to their faces. Laughing, I reached over to Mia’s cheek and jiggled it gently. “Morning, baby,” I said softly.

Instead of waking up, she grabbed my finger and held it close to her, resting her cheek lovingly against the back of my hand. I turned to Gabi, who laughed.

“She misses you, all right,” she said.

I picked Mia up and cradled her in my arms. “Mia, baby, mama and dada are home.”

She rubbed her cheek on my hand, still half-asleep. “Dada,” she mumbled.

“That’s right,” I whispered. “Wake up, baby, or you won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

“Night,” she murmured, drool spilling from the side of her mouth.

I sighed. This wasn’t going anywhere. Gabi picked up Johann, who was a little more responsive than Mia. He opened his eyes slightly to gaze at her, before they opened fully a few moments later and he was staring curiously at her.

“Hey, Johann,” she smiled.

He remained silent, his mouth slowly falling open. He didn’t say anything, not even babbling. He just stared at Gabi until she poked his nose with her finger. “What is it, baby?”

His little baby brows furrowed, as if he was really confused. He reached out and tapped Gabi’s nose with his palm, making her smile. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Ma…ma?” he asked, still confused.

“Yes, baby, have you forgotten me after just five days?”

His open mouth morphed into a wide smile as he raised both hands and slapped Gabi on both cheeks. “Mama!”

Gabi laughed. “He forgot me! How could he!”

Just then, Johann started violently rubbing both her cheeks, as if he was trying to erase something. Gabi just stared at him, confused, as he continued rubbing, and then checking his hands. He repeated that routine for a few times before I reached over and stopped him because Gabi’s cheeks were turning red. And then suddenly, I got it.

“He’s wondering why you’re so dark!” I laughed. “Awwww, look at our clever little boy.”

“OHHHHHH,” Gabi said loudly. “Awww, he thinks I’m dirty! I’m not dirty, baby.”

“She’s still your mama,” I said, pointing to Gabi and nodding at Johann.

“Mama!” he exclaimed, finally satisfied. He wrapped his arms around Gabi’s neck and rested on her shoulder. “Mamuhhh.”

“Hey,” Gabi laughed, slapping him gently on the backside before turning to Mia, who had awoken. “Hey, Mia. I’m not dirty, I’m just dark. I’m still your mama.”

Mia gaped at her in horror before the familiar face behind the dark skin finally sunk in. “Mama,” she said, but it was more of a question than a greeting, and she turned towards me to seek my approval.

“Yes, mama,” I laughed. “Why are they so scared of you? They’re not scared of me!”

“Because you’re still Snow White,” she smiled lovingly at Johann and Mia. “You’re just a little darker. Like…Snow Cream. I’m Snow Brown now.”

“Okay, that’s true,” I agreed. “Also maybe it’s because your eyes look really creepy against dark skin. They’re glowing.”

“I’m a cat,” she raised Johann by his underarms and wiggled him around. “Meow.”

“MEOW!” he repeated, giggling.

“Clever boy,” Gabi beamed at him before carrying him out of the room. Upon witnessing that, Mia flailed her arms eagerly in their direction, wanting to follow them, so I quickly caught up with them with her in my arms.

Gabi’s family had cleared the area in front of the sofa for the twins to play on the huge carpet. Their toys were arranged nicely in a little box at a small corner of the carpet. We set them down and let them play as we watched; they got into the groove almost immediately, crawling excitedly around the carpet and bringing their toys over to us, insisting that we take them. Soon, the basket was emptied and the toys strewn all over around us. Finally satisfied, they sat down and began babbling to themselves as they played with their toys.

Gabi started yawning after a while, and a few minutes later she lay down on her side on the carpet, causing an obstruction in the twins’ playing. Either they were too lazy to navigate their way around her or they just didn’t know how to, so they started whining while leaning over Gabi so they could fall over to her other side.

“Shhhhhh,” Gabi said as Johann crossed her for what seemed like the hundredth time, still whining. She picked him up and put him down in front of her. “Just stay here, okay?”

“Kay,” Johann replied, but a few moments later he decided that he would try and cross her again.

“JOHAAAAAAANN,” Gabi whined, turning around and grabbing all the toys behind her to put them in front so that Johann would stay where he was.

“Johaaaaaann,” Johann mumbled almost inaudibly, as if he was playfully imitating her.

Gabi froze, her hand hovering in the air with a toy brick in it. “Johann,” she whispered.

“Johann,” he repeated.

“Awwwww!” she grinned at me, laying Johann down on the ground so we could plant kisses all over his little face. “Clever boy.”

As usual, Mia decided that she would join in the fun, so she crawled over and into the little huddle so she would get her share of the kisses. She giggled joyfully as I gave her a huge kiss on the nose.

“What did we ever do to deserve such clever children?” Gabi sighed as she lay back down on her side. She wrapped an arm around Johann as he sat back up and continued playing. “Mummy lurrrrrves you, you know?” she said, her voice muffled as she buried her face in his back.

He giggled as if he understood, before getting distracted once again with his toys. Soon, Mia sat up as well and joined in, the both of them babbling to each other in a language that was probably only understood to them both and not Gabi and I.

Fortunately, with Gabi’s arm around his waist, Johann didn’t try any more climbing stunts, so I lay down beside them and played with them, pretending to understand what they were trying to tell me. I briefly wondered why Gabi had gone silent, before looking over and seeing that she’d already fallen asleep.

I only realised I’d been gazing at Gabi when Johann decided to follow my gaze. He moved as if to slap Gabi awake, but I grabbed his chubby little arm and stopped him. He looked towards me, disappointed, so I made a kissy face and pointed to Gabi’s cheek.

Delighted, he clapped his hands before leaning over and planting a wet kiss on Gabi’s cheek. Being ever-observant, Mia crawled over and did the same when she saw it happen.

Gabi stirred, opening her eyes and smiling at them. “Hey,” she said sleepily.

“HEY!” Mia screamed at her.

“Hello, pretty girl,” Gabi sighed, smoothening Mia’s messy hair back on her head before turning to Johann and booping him on the nose. “Hello, handsome.”

I laughed and moved closer to the three of them, gathering them all in a huge hug and making the twins squeal in excitement. They lay down obediently between Gabi and I, and although the babies weren’t supposed to sleep so much at ten months old, they soon fell asleep together with us, leaning comfortably on any part of our bodies they could lean on. There was nothing that could be more pleasant than lying with my dearest family in the warmest, most loving huddle anyone could ever wish for.

Gabi’s POV

I slid the twins’ mashed potato cake into the oven for a last round of baking before slipping out into the living room to join them and Toni. It was their first birthday today, and we were all up early to prepare for their little party, to which we’d invited our family over from Germany.

Toni had just finished changing their diapers and were sitting them up on the couch with their special birthday onesies that had their initials on the front – a yellow one with a J for Johann, and a red one with an M for Mia. They were staring intently at the TV, thoroughly focused on their morning cartoon, as Toni manoeuvred his way around them.

I went and sat on the couch on the twins’ left as Toni sat on the other side. “I can’t believe they’re a year old,” I sighed. “I mean, look at them. I wish they’ll stay this small forever.”

Toni burst out laughing. “Then there’s something wrong with them.”

“You know, in a good way,” I replied. I reached over and pulled Mia’s thumb out of her mouth. “You gotta stop sucking your thumb, baby.”

“Baby,” she repeated, before a song started playing from the TV and she and Johann started babbling along with it, clapping their hands excitedly.

“Well, if you don’t want them to grow up…” Toni started thoughtfully. “We can always have more kids!”

I turned to him and saw that he was grinning cheekily at me. I rolled my eyes at him. “Do you think I’m a sow? Will you only be contented if I give birth to an entire football team?”

“Well, yes,” he continued grinning. “We can raise the first unisex football team. With unisex managers.”

I reached over the twins and smacked him on the shoulder. “You really want more kids?”

He shrugged. “If you want, of course.”

“We’ll see, okay?”

“Okay,” he smiled first at me, and then at the screaming twins in between us. “Now we have these two noisy darlings, and that’s enough.”

We entertained the twins further by singing along with them, but twenty minutes later the oven gave a loud ding as the mashed potato cake finished baking. The twins went silent as they heard the ding, their eyes open wide, knowing that there was food on the way.

“DING!” Mia exclaimed loudly, while Johann just turned to me, did a pinching action with his thumb and finger and put them into his mouth.

I laughed, picking them up and hugging them tightly against my chest as they wriggled excitedly. “Oh, I love them so much.”

“They love you too,” Toni beamed. “Well, as long as you give them food.”

“I don’t wanna let them go,” I told him, squeezing the twins against me.

“That’s fine, as long as you don’t mind the two pools of drool that will form on your shirt,” he laughed. “Come on, let’s go get ready. I’ll help you with the table.”

We left the twins on the couch, where they would stay obediently as long as there was a cartoon on TV. The mashed potato cake looked deliciously golden-brown, and we left it on the dining table to cool. There were a few plates of other food such as sandwiches and pastries, and of course a normal cake for the adults.

We’d just helped the twins put on two shiny party hats which matched their onesies when the doorbell rang, and our families were waiting on the other side. We answered the door with the twins in our arms, and of course, they were the centre of attention after all the greetings.

We brought the twins to their high chairs, from which they fortunately couldn’t reach the mashed potato cake with their sticky fingers. They flailed wildly in its direction, though, their eyes lighting up at the sight of it.

After a quick birthday song that had them babbling along again, Felix suggested, “Well, since they can’t make their own wishes, why don’t you two make it for them?”

I glanced over at Toni, who nodded, so we each clasped one of the twins’ little hands together and made a wish for them. I didn’t know what Toni wished for, of course, but as I was holding Mia’s little hands, I wished that she and Johann would live happy, blissful lives, and that they would forever look out for each other, care for each other, and share each other’s joy.

“Okay?” Toni asked softly, and I turned only to see him smiling expectantly at me.

“Yeah,” I smiled back at him before we both turned to Mia and Johann and lifted them out of their chairs. “Come on, babies, blow the candle,” I said, blowing at the air in front of me so they would follow.

Alas, they only succeeded at blowing out a few drops of saliva, which landed on their mashed potato cake and made everybody else laugh lovingly at them. In the end, Toni and I had to help them blow out the candles, too, and we held their hands when they cut the “cake” with a plastic knife.

By the time everyone had a slice of the adult chocolate cake, the twins were literally drooling over their own potato cake, so we hurried and cut a slice for each of them. Once we placed the plates on their little tables and handed them their little plastic forks, they just stuck their fingers into the cake and stuffed handfuls into their mouth.

Toni heaved a huge sigh. “Well, as long as they like it.”

“Is it nice?” I asked Mia, but she didn’t reply me because she was too busy stuffing her face, so I just took that as a yes.

They were just making a huge mess out of the entire cake, so after a few minutes we decided to feed them instead. We brought them to the couch area to join our families and fed them as quickly as we could while they pleaded for more after each mouthful.

“Oh, it’s actually really delicious,” Toni licked his lips as Johann smashed a lump of mashed potato cake on his face.

“Really?” I asked. “Aww, thanks.”

“You’re a good baker,” he grinned. “Is that why you have such nice buns?”

“Toni!” I whispered urgently. “How can you say that  _here_?”

“Don’t worry, baby, no one can hear us.”

“Yeah, no one can hear you,” Felix leaned over and whispered.

“Felix!” I exclaimed. “Toni! Ugh.”

The both of them just laughed at me as I continued feeding Mia – boys would be boys, I thought. The party moved into the guestroom to the twins’ little fort as I cleared the plates. I returned to hear Amelie asking Toni, “Can they walk yet?”

“No, they’re too young, I guess,” Toni replied, grabbing Johann and putting him on his feet. “They can stand, though.”

He let go of Johann, who wobbled from side to side for a few moments before falling on his butt. Immediately after that, he grabbed Toni’s sleeve and hoisted himself upright again.

“Awwww,” Amelie cooed. She turned to Felix. “Let’s try making them walk.”

Felix nodded eagerly, and the both of them proceeded to pick the twins up and carry them about three feet away from us. I knelt down beside Toni as Amelie and Felix stood the twins on their feet and pointed at the both of us, urging them to walk towards their dada and mama.

Standing side by side, Johann and Mia stared at each other in confusion before they caught sight of us again. Eager to get across to us, Mia lifted one foot off the ground – but that was all she could manage before she fell on her knees and crawled excitedly to Toni and I.

I laughed, picking her up and turning her back around to face Felix and Amelie. “Felix,” I told her, pointing to Felix.

“Feeeee,” she repeated obediently.

“Felix.”

“Feeee,” she said again. “Feefeefeefeefee!”

“That’s it,” Toni laughed at Felix. “She’ll call you Fifi.”

“What about me?” Amelie asked in dismay.

“Well, too bad, she’ll have to call you Amy,” I told her, laughing as well.

“AMY!” Mia repeated obediently.

She rolled her eyes at me. “Ugh, anything for my niece and nephew.”

She picked Johann, who had already fallen on his butt, back up. He stood there, confused, for a few moments, before he lifted one foot off the ground – and he didn’t fall over like Mia did. Instead, he took one step forward before he lost his balance and crawled the rest of the way.

“Awww, did we just witness his first steps?” Felix laughed.

“I think you did,” Toni said.

We continued trying to make the twins walk the short distance between us as our parents sat in the corner and chatted happily, and after about an hour they could walk almost the entire three feet. They collapsed into mine and Toni’s laps, exhausted but still giggling.

“They’re so clever,” Felix sighed, gazing at them dreamily.

“I know, right?” Toni beamed proudly.

“Can they walk to us?” Mrs. Kroos asked eagerly. Our parents were sitting in a circle about six feet away from us.

“They can try,” I said as Toni and I stood them back up. This time, we hooked their arms together, pointed at our parents, and patted them gently on their backsides; which made them start walking in sync towards the little group.

As they were halfway there, though, Mia tripped on her own feet and fell over on her knees, pulling Johann down with her. The both of them sat there for a few moments, a little dazed and confused, before looking around until they found us.

We pointed at our parents again, and they followed our fingers, eventually remembering what they were supposed to do despite their short attention span. Johann, who was stronger, grabbed the back of Mia’s shirt as he hoisted himself upright, and then he proceeded to grab Mia by the arm and pull her up with him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t strong enough for that, and he ended up falling on his butt again.

Felix hurried over and set the both of them upright, hooking their arms in each other’s once again, and soon they were continuing their journey to our parents. This time, they made the rest of the way there, laughing hysterically even when they fell into Toni’s parents’ laps.

“We have the smartest grandkids,” Mrs. Kroos said lovingly as she planted huge kisses on their cheeks. They responded by giggling gleefully, so all four of them leaned over and gave them little kisses all over their faces. Of course, they almost exploded with happiness, and it was such a joy to watch them both.

Being babies, it only took them about ten more minutes before they automatically fell asleep, right at 1 in the afternoon, which was the time for their afternoon nap. They yawned as they were draped over our parents’ knees, and they just went to sleep.

“They’ve grown so much,” Toni whispered as we put them in their cots. “Do you remember when we first brought them home? They were like little wailing sausages.”

“Now they’re like huge chunks of ham, right?” I laughed softly.

“Yeah,” he smiled. “Soon they’ll be eighteen and ready to leave us.”

“But I won’t leave you,” I told him.

“I know,” he kissed me on the head as we finished tucking their little blankets around them. “I won’t leave you, either.”

“We’ll always have each other,” I promised.

“We will,” he swept Mia’s curls out of her face. “I love you so much, Gabriele.”

I smiled, turned and grabbed his face so I could kiss him.

“I love you too, Toni.”


	34. Warm Hearts, Warm Winter

Toni’s POV

“Come on, baby,” Gabi pulled on Johann’s arm as he planted his feet firmly on the ground and refused to move. “Let’s go. I’ll buy you clothes. And food.”

“Food, definitely,” I added.

“Food,” Johann mumbled, but he still refused to move.

Mia, who had walked a few steps ahead of us and fallen on her butt, picked herself up and wobbled her way back to us. “Dadaaaaaa,” she whined, grabbing my calf and pulling on it.

“Okay, we’re gonna go now,” Gabi told Johann. “And you’re gonna stay here, okay?”

She let go of Johann’s hand, leaving him swaying from side to side on the spot, and grabbed mine, pulling me and Mia along towards the mall. Johann stood there forlornly for a few moments before taking a few steps towards us.

Gabi smiled proudly and held out her hand towards him. “Let’s go, baby.”

“GOOOOOOOOOO,” Johann screeched as he reached us. He grabbed on to Gabi’s hand as I held on to Mia, and we proceeded the rest of the way to the mall for Christmas shopping. The twins still couldn’t walk properly on their own despite having known how to walk for over four months, but they could walk steadily when we held their hands.

Gabi had found a journalist job which allowed her to write from home, which was great because she could take care of the twins while working. She’d been doing so for about two months, and she was looking happier every day. The dark rings around her eyes had subsided, at least. Even though I was worried about her stressing herself out, I chose to believe her when she said that it was helping her to fit in.

“What do you want for Christmas?” she asked Johann as he wobbled alongside her. “Toys? A new blanket? Balls? Hugs and kisses?”

“BALL!” he yelled at her, grinning widely, and I didn’t know if he was just repeating a random word or if he really wanted a ball.

“A ball?” Gabi said thoughtfully. “You wanna follow in dada’s footsteps, yes?”

“YES!” he yelled again, still grinning.

Gabi turned to me proudly. “He’s gonna be a great footballer.”

“You totally manipulated him to say that,” I laughed.

“No, I didn’t,” she retorted. “It came right from his cute little heart,” she beamed at Johann.

“Cute little heart, huh?” I bent over and pinched Johann’s cheeks. “I love you, Johann.”

At the sound of those words, he automatically puckered his lips, so I leaned in to let him kiss my cheek. Immediately after, Mia again caught sight of all the action and made her way unsteadily towards Johann, letting go of my hand and taking his.

Gabi laughed. “Oh, Mia,” she sighed.

We had no other choice but to walk along with Johann and Mia in between us, hand in hand, while we held their other hand. The both of them were quite literally inseparable – but who was complaining, because as long as we all cared for each other as a family, what else could be more important?

Gabi’s POV

“See the pretty lights?” Toni pointed at the multi-coloured Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling. “Christmas is coming.”

Mia, who was always attracted to bright colours, suddenly stopped and gaped at the Christmas lights above her, leaning her head so far back that she fell backwards and on her butt again.

Toni laughed and picked her up, this time propping her up on his arm so she could admire the lights safely. Upon witnessing that, Johann tugged eagerly on my hand and spread his arms wide, begging me to carry him up as well, so I did.

It was evening, and the weather was getting really cold, so the twins were all decked out in their fluffy winter wear, including their knitted red and yellow beanies and mittens again. They clapped excitedly at the swinging Christmas lights as we proceeded to the toy store, after which their attention was switched from the lights to the toys.

We put them on the ground as they started struggling, and once their feet were on the ground they headed excitedly together towards the shelf of soft toys. On the way, of course, they lost their balance and crawled the rest of the way.

Once at the shelf, Johann started rummaging through the crowd of teddies, rabbits, dogs, cats, and whatever other animals soft toys could be made of. Soon, he’d almost entirely disappeared into the bottom shelf as he dug all the way inside to find what he was looking for, with only his fluffy backside and his chubby feet visible from outside. Mia, on the other hand, hoisted herself into a standing position to examine the second shelf.

Just as we were about to pull Johann out from his treasure hunt, Mia suddenly fell to her knees and crawled over to Johann while dragging a huge yellow bunny not unlike the one he used to have (it got too dirty and it went bald with all his chewing, so we threw it away). She grabbed his leg and started pulling until she caught his attention, after which he backed out of the shelf.

He sat and stared at her for a few moments before she grabbed the yellow bunny from behind her and handed it to him with a huge, wide grin.

“Awwwwwwwwww,” Toni and I said at the same time as Johann took the soft toy from Mia and hugged it tightly, a genuinely joyful smile on his face. Toni grabbed my hand tightly as we continued watching them from the side, wanting them to learn independently.

Just then, Johann left the bunny with Mia and returned to the little burrow he’d dug through the bottom shelf, rummaging around for a few more seconds before returning with a large green teddy like Mia’s old one (which we’d also thrown away for the same reasons). He handed it to Mia, who reflected his excited grin.

“Oh, I love them,” I whispered to Toni.

The twins giggled happily as they hugged their new soft toys tightly. Although they were the same colour and animal as their old ones, these ones were much bigger – bigger than the sixteen-month-olds – and would probably last them until they were two or three years old.

“They got each other their own Christmas presents,” Toni told me, and I turned to him only to see him smiling proudly. “It’s like they found the grown up versions of their old soft toys to accompany their grown up selves.”

I laughed. That was the most appropriate description ever. “Should we get them something else?”

“Let them choose again?” he asked, and I nodded, so we picked the both of them up and set them in another section of the store – but not before tucking the gigantic toys under our arms and reassuring them that we’d get the toys for them.

“They’re so smart,” Toni sighed, the yellow bunny draped over his shoulder, as we packed up the shelves Johann and Mia had messed up.

“I knoooow,” I sat down on the floor, exhausted. “I feel so lucky we have two of them. Can you imagine how it would be if one of them existed without the other?”

“I can’t,” he sat down next to me, the both of us watching the twins as they rummaged about in another shelf a few steps away. We hugged the soft toys in our arms as we watched them.

“They were just meant to be twins, then?”

“They were,” he whispered. Suddenly, he reached over and pulled me close to him, planting a lingering kiss on my lips. “I love you, Gabi.”

“I love you, too,” I murmured. “Why the sudden burst of affection?”

“I just realised how far we’ve come.”

I thought about it – we’d definitely been through many things since we’d known each other when Toni moved in across the road in Munich. All the times I’d nearly died and left him alone in this cruel world, and yet there we were, well and alive, sitting on the floor of a toy store and watching our dearest children.

As if he’d been reading my mind, Toni started, “Remember when you brought me the cookies, and Felix tried to set us up?” he smiled. “I was so embarrassed. And then everyone was gone, and I spent all my days climbing up that old pipe into your room and talking to you for hours. I kissed you, on that night of my senior debut, and oh, Gabi,  _nothing_  has been the same since that day. You didn’t want to tell your family, and I understood that, but both our families are still our biggest supporters till this day. And then you went to Cologne with me, and no one had ever done such a nice thing to me before, and I had the best time of my life there with you. We got Julius and Lennox together, and then that was when I really knew, and I made up my mind that I would be with you  _forever_ , as long as I could keep you.”

His voice petered off into a whisper as he reached the next part. “And then you…you got into that accident when you tried to save me, and…and I was so worried. I was so guilty, and I didn’t know if I was ever going to see your beautiful blue eyes again, or hear your voice. When you woke up, I was so relieved, but then…then I didn’t know if I was ever going to hear you tell me you love me ever again. And that was the darkest period of my life. It’s something I would rather forget…but at the same time, I don’t, because you were there. I don’t ever want to forget anything that you had anything to do with. And you were so angry…so angry with me when you remembered who I was. I thought it was going to lose you again. I almost lost you so many times over that year.

“And then…then I lost contact with you, and I thought that was the end. I was never going to find another person that could make me so happy. I thought it was over, the best times of my life were over, and the best person in my life was gone. And then I saw you outside my door, almost getting run over by a car  _again_ , and on that night I felt all the feelings one person could ever possibly feel in one night. You were back…back in my arms again, and I’d never missed any feeling more than I missed that. I wanted to keep you forever, just as I’d always wanted. I wanted to keep you in a little box and put you in my pocket and bring you everywhere I went. Because you’re amazing, Gabriele. You’re so amazing, I…I don’t even know how to describe you. I just want to tell the entire world all about my wonderful wife.”

I reached over and grabbed his hand to give the back of it a kiss. “I love you so much.”

“I’m not done yet,” he said, slipping his fingers in between mine before turning his gaze to me. “I brought you to Perissa again, and I proposed to you, and the moment you said yes…it was the best moment of my life. I’d finally fulfilled my wish of almost four years – to make you my wife. And then we found out we were having a baby…and then  _two_  babies…and I’d never been so happy in my life. To have children with  _you_ , Gabi. They’re the most wonderful human beings in the world. Except for you, of course.

“Our wedding day was the best day of my life. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve said a day was the best day of my life, but you can be sure that all those days involve you. Oh, and when you gave birth to them, too. You looked beautiful on all of those days. You look beautiful  _every day_ , but you were especially beautiful on those days.

“That time…when you got so angry with me about the Madrid thing, and you yelled at me and told me to get out of your sight…I felt so stupid. I thought I was going to lose you again. I never want to lose you. And you were so angry…so angry with me.

“I’m so happy, though, that you were there when we lifted the World Cup. It means so much to me. All three of you mean so much to me. And although right now you’re just staring at Mia and Johann and I don’t really know if you’re listening to me, I just want you to know that I love you, Gabriele, and I don’t know what I’d ever do without you.”

There was a moment of silence as I thought of what to say. I stroked the back of his hand gently with my thumb as thoughts flitted through my mind. There was a stray Santa hat sitting on one of the shelves, so I picked it up and put it on Toni’s head.

“You’re amazing,” I whispered, my voice failing me. “I don’t say this enough because most of the time I have no idea how to tell you. You’re amazing, and you’re my favourite person in this entire universe. I can’t put that into sweet words and long sentences like you do, but I just want you to know that you are, and I will always feel that way, and I love you very much, and I never want to live a single day without you.”

He smiled and wrapped his arms tightly around me. “I know. You’re my silly Gabi.”

“I will always be your silly Gabi.”

“And I will always be your silly Toni,” he laughed. “Should we go find the twins?”

“They’re right there,” I pointed. Mia and Johann, unlike normal babies, had gotten tired of the cars and dolls and had moved on to the toy weapons section. “And they’re having a lot of fun.”

“They’re so violent,” Toni noted.

“I bet it’s Mia’s influence,” I told him, and he laughed.

Johann picked up a plastic crossbow, which was loaded with a fat plastic arrow which I seriously doubted had any ability of doing any harm to anybody. He fiddled with it as he tried to figure out how to use it – accidentally shooting the arrow out at Mia and hitting her in the stomach.

Toni immediately got up, wanting to run over to check on Mia, but I stopped him and sat him back down to watch.

Mia, who had been sitting down with an empty water gun in her hands, remained thoroughly engrossed in operating that water gun, paying no attention to the fact that she’d just been shot by her twin brother – until, of course, the arrow made her lose her balance and fall over on her back. Even then, she just lay there on the ground, examining the water gun, until it slipped out of her hands and dropped on her face.

She let out a loud shriek as it hit her on the nose, her hands flying to her nose to check on it. Thinking it was his fault, Johann frantically got on his hands and knees and crawled over to her, patting her all over her body to check on her while she did her overturned cockroach thing again. A frightened look took over his face as he put one of his hands on Mia’s face, desperately checking if anything was wrong with her.

After wiping her non-existent tears, Johann moved his hands down to her stomach, where he moved her fluffy jacket in order to try and see if he had bruised her – of course, he couldn’t make out anything through her clothes despite his frantic search, so he sat back down on his fluffy butt and stared at Mia sadly.

A few moments later, he caught sight of Toni and I sitting a short distance away, and his face brightened instantly, although slightly. He grabbed the shelf and pulled himself into a standing position, after which he made his way shakily over to us while supporting himself with the shelf.

“What is it, baby?” Toni asked him.

Johann grabbed Toni’s hand in one of his and mine in the other and tugged at us, wanting us to proceed closer to where him and Mia had been playing. He let go of a hand to jab urgently at Mia, who had already picked up her water gun but was still lying on the ground, and then tugged at us again.

Toni stood up with Johann in his arms, so I followed them over to Mia. Johann wriggled around in Toni’s arms as we reached her, wanting to be let down on the ground. He crawled over to Mia and tapped her stomach with his palm before peering back up at us with a guilty look in his eyes.

“Booboo,” he said, as seriously as a baby could sound.

Toni and I burst out laughing in unison. “Aww, baby, there’s nothing wrong,” I told him, lifting Mia’s shirt and seeing that her stomach area was just fine, without even a single red mark or bruise. “See? No booboo.”

“Booboo?” he asked, and I shook my head. His gaze lightened up and a smile took over his face. He crawled over next to Mia and sat next to her, tapping her lightly on the nose. He liked to do that, as if it was his way of baptising someone to tell them he loved them. Confused, Mia handed him her water gun, thinking that he wanted it.

Toni and I laughed again at the both of them. They were such darlings, even if they didn’t really know what they were doing. In fact, I thought that it meant the most that they did all those things candidly in these growing years, because it showed who they truly were and who they were growing up to be.

“It’s like he knows what the first words you said to him were,” Toni said. “Remember? You told him that he was going to take care of his sister.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, remembering. “Aww, he’s such a clever boy. Like his dada.”

“And his mama,” he added. He picked up Mia, and then Johann, who proceeded to pluck the Christmas hat off Toni’s head and place it on his – except it was much too big, and it ended up falling down and covering his entire face while he giggled.

I laughed and reached over to pull it up so he could see. “Is there anything else you want?” I asked, picking up the crossbow and the arrow that Johann had used. I handed it to him, thinking that he wanted it as a present. Alas, he recoiled in horror at the sight of it, before reaching over and grabbing Mia’s arm again.

“He doesn’t want to hurt her,” Toni laughed. “Come on, let’s go somewhere else.”

I picked up the gigantic soft toys that the twins had picked out, and after paying for them (and the Christmas hat on Toni’s head, because the twins seemed to be having a lot of fun with it), we proceeded to buy some Christmas clothes for them.

——

“Hey,” Toni whispered, his breath warm on the back of my ear. “Gabi, baby, wake up.”

“Hmm?” I asked. It was warm and cosy under the sheets.

“Wake up, I have something to show you.”

“Is it snow?” I murmured.

“It’s better than snow.”

“What’s better than snow?”

“You’ll see, baby.”

I sighed. “What time is it?”

“Seven in the morning,” he tugged on my arm. “Christmas morning. Come on.”

I sighed again and swung my legs out of bed, letting him take my hand and drag me excitedly into the hallway. “Are the twins still asleep?” I asked, but there was no answer, just a grin on his face.

The stair railings were decked with rows of colourful Christmas lights, which we’d put up as a family a few days before Christmas. Of course, Mia had been really excited by all the colours, and she’d gotten tangled in the lights more than once.

Toni led me quietly down the stairs to the brightly lit living room which nearly blinded my sleepy eyes. He led me to the Christmas tree we’d set up with the help of the twins, who basically just handed us the ornaments impatiently while we found places to hang them on. There were two large boxes next to the tree.

“Aww, you got more presents for the twins?” I asked.

His grin grew wider. “No, they’re for you,” he said, before leaning forward and popping the lids off the boxes.

After a second of nothing, there was suddenly a loud rustling sound – and then the twins and the dogs each popped out from one box, their arms and paws in the air and joyful laughter and grunts coming out of their mouths. Julius accompanied Johann, and Lennox accompanied Mia.

“Merry Christmas!” Toni said, giving me a kiss on my head.

“Awwwwwwwww!” I laughed at the sight. The twins were still wiggling their arms about and beaming at us, possibly waiting for us to take them out of the boxes, and the dogs joined them, waving their front paws around. “This is so cute! Thank you, baby.”

“I’m glad you like it,” he said, before going and tipping over the boxes so the twins could crawl out. They were in their new Christmas clothes – Mia in a pretty sky blue puffy dress, and Johann in a smart little suit. They crawled under the tree and retrieved their new gigantic soft toys before sitting in a little huddle with them.

“I love you so much, baby,” I whispered, kissing Toni on the lips.

He smiled. “I love you too, Gabi. Come, I have something else for you.”

He dragged me to the guestroom door, which was closed. There was a bunch of mistletoe hanging in the doorway, and Toni turned to me with another grin. “Kiss?” he asked.

“Of course,” I puckered my lips. “I won’t be an old maid now.”

He laughed and leaned in to kiss me on the lips, the slow and gentle kiss eventually becoming more urgent and wanting. He smiled against my lips as I let out a small laugh at his eagerness. “I love you, baby,” he said.

“I love you more,” I whispered. “Now can I go back to bed?”

“Okay,” he grabbed my arm and suddenly we were on the move again, this time upstairs. “But only after you get my gift.”

“Another gift?” I asked in mock dismay. “How many times do you have to surprise me in five minutes?”

“Five hundred times.”

I plopped down on the bed as he reached into his beside drawer and retrieved a little paper bag. “Merry Christmas,” he said again, handing the bag to me.

I opened the bag, which contained a little box and a card. Inside the box was a beautiful pair of diamond earrings with aquamarine jewels embedded in the middle.

“Oh, it’s beautiful,” I whispered. “Thank you.”

“Open the card,” he told me, so I did.

It was an antiquely yellowed piece of paper, on which was written, in Toni’s best ever handwriting:

 _Does the sun promise to shine?_  
No, but it will,  
even behind the darkest clouds it will.  
And no promise will make it shine longer or brighter,  
for that is its fate,  
to burn until it can burn no more.  
So, to love you is not my promise,  
it is my fate,  
to burn until I can burn no more.

_-Atticus_

“Oh, Toni,” I whispered, tears falling out of my eyes and rolling down my cheeks. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“You’re my ears,” he grabbed the earrings and held them to my ears before putting them back in the box and using his thumbs to wipe my tears. “And my eyes.”

“And you’re mine,” I smiled. I reached over to the drawer on my side and took out a little rectangular box to hand to him. “Feliz Navidad, baby.”

His eyes lit up, just like they did every time I spoke Spanish. He opened it and took out a grey tie, which I’d specially picked out because it matched the colour of his eyes exactly. He wore a similar one on our wedding day, but this one was customised – I’d had the letters T, G, J and M sewn on at the bottom of the tie.

“Oh, Gabi,” he whispered, tears brimming in his eyes. “Thank you. It’s really nice. I have nowhere to wear it to, though.”

“You can wear it to the Christmas party tonight,” I told him, referring to the party some of his teammates were organising and attending.

“Oh, okay,” he smiled before leaning and giving me another kiss on the lips. “Thank you, baby.”

“I love you.”

“I love you more,” he smiled and fluffed up my pillows. “Go back to sleep. I’ll handle the twins.”

“Okay,” I smiled as he kissed me on the temple. “Good night, baby.”

“Night,” he whispered, before turning off the light and leaving the room.

I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face as I lay there in the dark, and as I heard Toni shushing the twins as he changed them back into their pyjamas and put them back into their cots, all the while talking to them in his special baby voice as softly as he could. His voice, though, could not escape my ears no matter how much he tried; just as how my heart could never escape his, no matter how much I tried – which, of course, wasn’t something I was ever going to do. 


	35. Long Live

_ Toni’s POV _

At 8 in the morning, the alarm on Gabi’s side chimed softly, and I vaguely noticed her leaving the bed to check on the twins and feed them milk like she did every other morning. I was exhausted after a match we’d played the night before, though, so I just drifted back to sleep.

About a half-hour later, she returned to bed with a soft sigh, waking me again. I didn’t open my eyes, though, but I definitely felt her leaning over and giving me a gentle kiss on the cheek before slipping gently under the sheets. She grabbed my hands in both of hers and drifted back to sleep.

I’d fallen asleep, so I didn’t know how much time had passed, but a loud happy screech from the nursery opposite woke me up again. Too lazy to get out of bed, I wrapped an arm around Gabi and pulled her closer to me, snuggling up against her warmness.

“Nooooooooo,” I mumbled.

 

“Hmmmm,” Gabi sighed as another screech reached us from the nursery. She got up and out of bed, leaving me cold and alone. I turned to face the ceiling, trying to get at least a little more sleep.

Moments later, she returned with Mia and Johann wriggling excitedly in her arms. She smiled when she saw me lying there, eyes half-open and gazing in their direction.

“Shhh, don’t wake dada, okay?” she whispered, juggling the twins in her arms. She walked over to her side and set the twins down on the bed between us before lying back down, trapping them on the bed so they wouldn’t roll off.

“Johann,” Gabi whispered as Johann started crawling up my body and on to my face. “Johann, stop.”

Johann paid no attention to her, proceeding instead to lie down on his back across my face. He wriggled about for a few moments before deciding that it was uncomfortable there, so he proceeded to crawl back down and lie with his face buried in my pelvis and his feet in my face.

Gabi heaved a huge sigh. “Johann,” she whispered urgently.

“Dada,” he said loudly, and Gabi shushed him again.

“Dada!” Mia joined in, grabbing my arm and leaning her cheek on it.

“Nooo, stop,” Gabi whispered frantically. “Dada needs to sleep.”

It was quite clear by then that I wasn’t going to get any more sleep, so I grabbed Johann’s feet and tickled his soles, causing him to laugh loudly and thrash around on my torso. “Morning, Johann.”

“DADA!!!” he shrieked, giggling and kicking my face. He flailed around with his arms and accidentally punched me in the sensitive man parts.

“Oh, okay no,” I flinched as I felt a brief deep pain. “Don’t do that, or you won’t have any brothers or sisters.”

He sat up and crawled over to Mia, draping himself over her and pressing their cheeks together lovingly. “Sitter,” he said.

“Sister,” I told him.

“Ssssssssitter,” he repeated, spitting out a few drops of saliva, which landed on a very surprised Mia’s face.

Gabi laughed and reached over to lift Johann off Mia and put him down next to her. “Morning, Toni,” she smiled, leaning over and giving me a sweet kiss on the lips. “Happy birthday, baby.”

“Oh, thank you,” I smiled against her lips, almost forgetting that it was my birthday.

Just then, a pair of hands landed on mine and Gabi’s cheeks, trying their hardest to pull us apart. I glanced to the side only to see that it was Mia, whose lips were puckered and hands were desperately guiding our faces to kiss her.

Laughing, Gabi puckered her lips back at Mia, who, without any further hesitation, just leaned forward and planted a wet kiss on Gabi’s lips.

Gabi gaped at her, and then at me. “That’s the first time I’ve been kissed by anyone other than you.”

I burst out laughing. “Am I supposed to be jealous?”

“No,” she said, still shocked. She wiped Mia’s drool off her lips. “That was…strange.”

“Wanna make it better?” I asked, puckering my lips.

“Okay,” she grinned, before grabbing a pillow and using it to shield us from the twins. “Wait, we gotta hide or they’ll steal our kisses again.”

The four of us lay in bed for the rest of the morning, before moving to the couch at about one in the afternoon. I’d gotten the day off after the match yesterday, so thankfully I could spend my birthday with my beloved family.

After a quick “lunch” of cereal for me and Gabi and mashed potatoes (again) for the twins, the sun was out despite the temperature still being below 10 degrees, so we brought the twins and the dogs out to the park for a walk.

We set them in the baby swings, which they could still fit in but not for long, and pushed them as they screamed in laughter. Especially Mia, of course, who was thoroughly enjoying herself kicking her legs out like no tomorrow, even though they weren’t in sync with the swing.

After about a half-hour of them frantically kicking around, we started walking back home. The twins walked unsteadily in front us, hand in hand, and Gabi and I walked hand in hand behind them with the dog’s leashes in our hands. The dogs caught up with the twins and proceeded to trot along happily beside them – but that didn’t work for long, because the both of them got distracted by the dogs and sat down on the ground to play with their floppy ears.

I sighed and put them on their feet, but they only turned to me and spread their arms, wanting me to carry them. I sighed again and brought them back to Gabi, releasing Johann for a while to put Mia up on her shoulders.

“Can we carry them like this?” I asked.

She pulled the retractable dog leash and set it at a height where she could hold on to Lennox and Mia at the same time, and nodded at me, so I lifted Johann up on my shoulders and the four of us continued our journey home with the babbling twins on our shoulders, grabbing onto our hair and yanking excitedly on it whenever they saw something exciting.

“I’ll give the twins a bath, and then I’ll cook dinner,” Gabi smiled as she released the dogs from their leashes. “You can just chill here, or something.”

“I’ll help you bathe them,” I said.

“No, just sit here, it’s your birthday.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t do anything to help you.”

She stood there and stared at me for a few moments, contemplating what to do with me. Finally, she said, “Okay, fine, can you bathe them while I cook?”

“Okay,” I beamed at her.

I carried the twins into the bathroom and put them in the sink, plugging it in so I could fill it. I spoke to them as I shampooed their hair, taking the time to style their shampoo foam into various hairstyles. It was only when I made the same hairstyle for the both of them that I realised that they really did look exactly the same, just like they did when they were first born and only had a few bunches of hair.

Just as I finished shaping Mia’s Mohawk, Gabi peeked in from around the door. “How’s it going?” she asked, before bursting out into laughter when I turned the twins to face her. “Awwwwww, they look like little old men!”

“They still look exactly the same,” I told her.

She examined them more closely, wiping off the foam that had fallen on their cheeks. “Awww, yeah, they do,” she smiled. “They’re so adorable.”

“They are,” I beamed, turning them to face the mirror so they could see themselves. As always, they reacted excitedly, reaching over and slapping their own reflections.

I washed them up thoroughly as Gabi returned to the cooking, and by the time I’d finished towel-drying their hair and brought them to the living room, dinner was already ready. The dining table had only three big plates of food on it – carbonara pasta, Mediterranean stir-fry, and a heaped pile of bratwursts. All of them were my favourites, and Gabi had specially prepared them for my birthday dinner.

I reached over and swept her into my arms for a big tight hug. “Thank you,” I whispered.

“Feliz cumpleaños,” she mumbled into the front of my shirt, and I smiled, giving her a kiss on her head. It always warmed me in the most incredible way possible whenever she spoke Spanish, because it just meant so much to me that she was willing to try it out here with me.

“I love you,” I said.

“I love you, too,” she lifted her head and planted a kiss on my lips. “Let’s eat.”

So we sat down and ate dinner, feeding the twins along the way, and it was the most enjoyable dinner I’d ever had. It was the first time I’d actually had a proper celebration with Gabi ever since we’d gotten together, since I’d always been away at training camp with Bayern during my birthday, and last year I’d been away at a match. I had a wonderful time doing almost nothing at all, just spending time with the three most important people in my life, who were also my favourite people in the world, and it definitely was a day I would never forget.

_ Gabi’s POV _

“You’re still sure you want to go?” Toni asked as he was getting ready to leave the house to the Bernabeu to play a match.

“Yeah, why not?” I asked as I slipped the twins’ Kroos jerseys on.

“Well, it’s your birthday, and I thought maybe you’d like to chill at home or something.”

“It’s my birthday, and I want to bring my children to watch their dad play a match.”

He laughed. “Okay, then,” he leaned in and planted his lips on my head. “See you there. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I smiled. “Good luck.”

“I’m sure I’ll have plenty of that as long as you’re all there,” he gave the twins each a kiss on the nose before turning and opening the front door. “Bye, baby.”

I brought the twins out to the driveway and raised their arms to wave at Toni as he left in one of our two cars. He gave a happy wave and a loving smile as he pulled out, and then soon he had disappeared down the street.

“Come on, let’s put on some pants,” I laughed, realising that the twins were only in their diapers and their Real Madrid tops, just as I was. I held their shoulders as they walked back into the house, now much more steadily. They were 20 months old now, and they could do many more things such as running, kicking, and climbing. They could even almost say “happy birthday” to me.

After dressing them up nicely, I combed back Johann’s hair neatly and tied Mia’s hair up into a nice pigtail. Then I put them in the backseat of the family car and drove us to the Bernabeu.

Toni and I had tried teaching the twins how to watch a football match, using a little makeshift net, a paper ball, and a tiny Lego man to show them that they should cheer when the ball entered the net. After just a few tries, they’d gotten the gist of it, and they knew how to cheer when we watched football on TV together.

That plan backfired on us when we settled down to watch the match, though, because I realised that we hadn’t taught them how to differentiate between the different teams – when the opponent scored, they started cheering loudly and clapping their hands, attracting judgemental looks from everybody else in the VIP room.

I gaped at them in horror as they stood up on the ledge and started banging excitedly on the window, screaming at the top of their lungs.

“No, stop,” I whispered urgently, pulling them back down on my thighs and covering their mouths with my hands. “Shhhhhhhhh,” I repeated until they’d stopped cheering. “It’s the wrong team.”

Mia turned around and gazed sadly at me. “Wrong?” she asked.

“Yes,” I couldn’t help but laugh at how disappointed she looked.

“Ball…” Johann jabbed his finger towards the field below, in the rough direction of the ball. Then he moved it so he was pointing at the goal. “Net.”

“Yes, baby,” I smoothened his hair back on his head. “But it’s not dada’s team.”

“No dada?” he asked.

I turned them around and pointed to the digital scoreboard showing the score. I pointed at the team’s emblems on the sides, referring to Real Madrid’s, which was next to the 0 in the current 1-0 score. “See? Zero is no good. Zero is next to Real Madrid, so we’re not happy, okay?”

They turned and stared at me, confused, so I pointed to the crests on their jerseys. “Real Madrid. Dada plays for Real Madrid.”

“Dada!” Mia clapped her hands excitedly, while Johann continued staring at me as he said, “Real…?”

“Madrid,” I finished.

“Ma…” he started, before giving up and stopping. He turned back to the glass window, pressing his palms and his face up against it and watching the play intently.

Mia joined him, and for the next fifteen minutes or so all was calm and silent as they watched with their full attention. The peace was only briefly punctuated by them jabbing their fingers excitedly at the pitch and yelling “DADA!” whenever Toni got the ball.

I was enjoying myself marvelling at the twins so deeply engrossed in Toni and the match; they reminded me of myself when I first became friends with Toni and I’d watch all of his matches on TV. It seemed almost surreal that I was here watching him live.

Suddenly, as all three of us were staring wide-eyed at the pitch below, Toni received the ball at the edge of the box from one of his teammates. He proceeded to take one look at the goal and flick the ball calmly towards it with his boot – all three of our heads followed the path of the ball as it sailed up in the air and then down, almost in slow-motion, and then nestled itself in the top corner of the net.

“DAAADAAAAAAA!” Johann and Mia screamed in unison, pounding furiously on the window with their fists.

“Shhhh,” I laughed as some of the other people in the room stared at us and started smiling lovingly.

“Goal!” Johann yelled. “DADA GOAL!”

“Yes, dada goal,” I kissed him on the head. Toni had whirled away in celebration, ending with him facing in the direction of the VIP room we were in and blowing us a kiss. In response, the twins automatically puckered their lips, but since Toni was too far for them to kiss him, I let them kiss me on the cheeks instead.

Surprisingly, the twins continued to press themselves against the glass and stare at Toni for the rest of the match, only peeling their gaze away during half-time when I brought them to the washroom. Fortunately, the rest of the match only consisted of two more Real Madrid goals, so the twins didn’t cheer wrongly any more. After the match, though, they snapped out of their daze and started pointing to their mouths, wanting me to give them food.

I brought them back to the car and took out the jars of baby food, sitting in the backseat next to them and feeding them patiently. I wiped their mouths as they babbled continuously at each other and at me, and by then it was become more understandable, so I could talk back to them as well.

Toni seemed to be taking an extra-long time to be done with his stuff, so I managed to change their diapers and put them back into their booster seats. By that time, it was already past 9pm and past the twins’ bedtime. I handed them their little bolsters to hug, and within seconds they’d fallen asleep.

About fifteen minutes of silence later, Toni finally appeared outside the passenger window, smiling as he opened the door.

“Hey,” I smiled. “Congrats, baby.”

He reached over, grabbed the back of my neck and pressed his lips against mine. “Happy birthday, Gabi. I hope you liked your present.”

“I loved it, it was wonderful,” I smiled against his lips. “I love you, Toni. And I’m so proud of you.”

“I love you, too,” he sighed and leaned his cheek on my shoulder. “Thank you so much.”

“Tired?” I asked, and he nodded sadly. “Come on, let’s go home.”

He turned to the backseat and smiled at the twins, who were sleeping with their mouths wide open. “They look just like you when they’re sleeping.”

I snorted. “I don’t think I look that pretty when I’m sleeping.”

“You do,” he said, turning his gaze to me. His eyes, although tired, were filled with the most intense look of affection I’d ever seen. “I love you, birthday girl.”

“I love you, too.”

“Sorry I couldn’t spend your birthday with you.”

“Don’t be silly, Toni, you say that every year,” I rolled my eyes playfully. “I really enjoyed today. There couldn’t be a better way for me to spend my birthday.”

“Okay, if you say so,” he sighed and leaned his head back on the headrest. “Let’s go home.”

He was so tired, he’d fallen asleep next to me by the time I pulled up into our driveway. I turned off the engine and the air conditioning, turning down the windows so we could get some fresh air. With the three of them still sleeping and snoring softly, I had no idea how to get them into the house, so I just sat there, pressed up on to the driver’s door, watching them peacefully.

I reached over, taking Toni’s hand and planting a soft kiss on the back of it. “Thank you, baby. I love you so much,” I whispered.

He gave a soft grunt in response, so I just laughed and continued holding his hand. And with no sound outside except for the rustling of the leaves in the beginning of spring, I felt so happy. And as I watched my children and my husband, my three favourite people in the entire universe sleeping peacefully, I couldn’t help but choke back a soft sob. This was my family; I was surrounded by my dearest family, and it was the most perfect feeling in the world.


	36. Kick and Catch

Gabi’s POV

“Do you see dada?” I asked the twins as I jiggled their arms. “Dada’s coming home!”

“Dada home!” Mia exclaimed. “Where dada?”

“Do you see him?” I asked, peering over the crowd in front of me.

“Nooo,” Johann said. He was on his tiptoes, trying his very best to see past everybody, but he could only see their butts.

Toni had been away for the 2016 European Championships, and although the three of us had flown over to see him, we had to take a different flight home, two days before he was due to reach Madrid. We were at the airport to fetch him, although we couldn’t really see anything.

After a while, the twins got tired, so I brought them over to a couple of empty seats and sat them down together in one while I sat in the other. I’d given them a drink of water and cleaned their sweaty foreheads when there was a sudden flurry of activity in the arrival hall exit.

I was a little exhausted with carrying the twins around all day, but I couldn’t leave them sitting there alone anyway, so I Just continued sitting there and fanning myself, waiting for the crowd to disperse a little so I could catch Toni.

Just a few minutes later, though, a tall blonde figure made his way towards us with his bag covering his face. As he approached, I saw that it was Toni on his way to surprise the twins – he knelt down in front of their curious faces and removed his bag. “Boo!” he called.

The intense look of concentration on the twins’ faces suddenly turned into laughter. “DADA!!!” they screamed, flailing their arms in his direction.

“Hey,” Toni laughed, wrapping his arms around the both of them and holding them tightly. He glanced up and smiled at me. “Hey, Gabi.”

“Hey, baby,” I leaned over and kissed him on the lips. “How was the flight? Are you tired?”

“A little,” he sighed, putting the twins on the ground and pushing them gently so they’d start walking towards the exit. “Let’s go home.”

He grabbed the twins’ hands and made them start walking, but Mia refused to budge, tugging violently on Toni’s arm. She spread her arms wide, beckoning Toni to carry her.

“Dada,” she said politely, her eyes huge and gleaming. “Mia up.”

Of course, Toni couldn’t resist whenever any of the twins did anything like that. He laughed, letting go of Johann and hoisting Mia up into his arms. Johann trotted over to me obediently, deciding not to pester Toni and leave them to their father-daughter time. He grabbed my hand tightly as we walked, and examined the ground thoroughly as if it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen.

“Watch where you’re going, baby,” I grasped his chin and turned him to face in front. “Don’t bang into things or you’ll get a huge booboo.”

“No want booboo,” he mumbled, looking back down on the ground.

“Then look in front,” I lifted his head again, and this time he listened, looking in front and looking really formal as he walked.

I looked back up only to see Toni watching us with a big smile on his face. “What?” I asked him.

“Have I ever told you how amazing you are?”

“You have,” I smiled shyly at the ground. “And I’m not,” I whispered, thinking that he couldn’t hear.

Suddenly, he stopped abruptly and tugged at my arm to make me face him. “You are, Gabi. You’re an amazing wife, an amazing mother, and an amazing person. You’re my favourite person in the entire world. And my favourite mum. But only if you don’t tell my mum I said that.”

“Aww,” I giggled. “I won’t.”

“You’re my favourite mum,” he repeated.

“You’re my favourite dad,” I said.

“I love you, Gabriele.”

“I love you more.”

He moved in to give me a quick peck on the lips as we continued walking, but Johann, who I supposed had returned his gaze to the ground again, suddenly gave a loud surprised yelp as he bumped into the back of Toni’s legs.

I laughed as I picked up him and carried him. “See? I told you to look where you’re going.”

“Booboo,” he grumbled, rubbing his nose.

“That’s not a booboo, baby. Not everything that hurts a little is a booboo. You’ve got to be stronger, okay? Then when people come in to get the ball from you, they won’t hurt you.”

He stared at me, confused at the string of words I’d just hurled at him. A few seconds later, he looked back on the ground again – but not really. I followed his gaze and saw that it followed his feet as they bounced when I walked.

“Ohhhhh,” I said, leading Toni to stare at me. “He’s looking at his new shoes!”

Toni followed Johann’s gaze. “Oh, yeah!” he laughed, reaching over to Johann and pinching his cheeks. “Johann, baby, there are better things to look at than those shoes. Look in front or you’ll hurt your neck.”

“Front,” he repeated. “No. No front.”

Sighing, I hoisted him over my shoulder instead, so he didn’t have a direct view of his shoes. Soon, he got distracted by whatever that was happening behind and stayed quiet until we reached the car.

Toni had gotten a pair of Adidas shoes for Johann before he’d left for France to play the Euros. They were custom made and looked exactly like the boots Toni had been wearing for all these years, and they even had Johann’s name inscribed on the sides, just like real football boots. It was no wonder Johann couldn’t take his eyes off them. They were so shiny and new.

Mia, on the other hand, had gotten a personalised shirt from the same brand. On the front were the gigantic words “DADDY’S GIRL,” and the number 18 was on the back. She wore it proudly to every Germany match we’d watched live.  

And me? I just wore one of Toni’s old Germany jerseys. I didn’t care if I got anything new from him – his presence, to me, meant so much more than any gift ever would.

Toni’s POV

I had around a month off before I had to return to training after the European Championships, and after a short holiday back to Munich and Rostock, Gabi and I decided that we should spend the rest of the time back at home in Madrid.

The park was always almost empty during the weekdays, so Gabi and I decided to bring the twins there for a kickaround and some exercise. After all, they’d only just started learning how to kick, and maybe it would be a good time to get them started with a ball.

We’d bought two size one footballs for the twins, but they were still a little too big for them. Nevertheless, they were having a lot of fun trying to dribble the ball in the park while I ran (or walked) alongside them guiding them. Inevitably, though, they tripped over the ball or their own feet a few times, falling on their fronts on the grass. Fortunately, every time they fell, they just picked themselves up and continued running and laughing. Johann was having so much fun, he didn’t even complain about booboos anymore.

Gabi was standing a short distance away, ready to act as a goalkeeper to Johann and Mia. When Johann finally managed to make his way over there after falling over five times, he kicked the ball towards Gabi with all his might – alas, he only managed to nudge the ball forward a few inches.

“Come on, kick it past mama,” I said as I jogged up to him. He walked up to the ball again and gave another kick, this time harder, so the ball rolled steadily on the ground and past Gabi, who reached out for it but pretended to miss it.

“GOOOOAL!” Johann screamed, jumping up and down with his arms raised.

“Aww, look at that, our son’s first goal,” Gabi beamed.

I laughed as Johann ran up to me in celebration, crashing against my legs and hugging them tightly. “DADA, GOAL!”

“Yay, goal!” I picked him up and threw him in the air. He screamed and giggled as he fell back into my arms, and he ran to retrieve his ball when I set him on the ground.

Mia, who had just gotten up again and was dribbling the ball, suddenly abandoned it and ran up to me. “MEEEEEEE!” she demanded, raising her arms.

I pointed towards Gabi, who waved. “Score a goal first, baby,” I told Mia.

“Goal,” she mumbled, running back to her ball and kicking it forward a few more steps. With her strong, almost hyperactive legs and feet, she sent the ball flying so quickly towards Gabi that she didn’t have any time to react, much less pretend to miss it. “GOOOOAL!” Mia screamed, bounding towards me with her arms wide open again. This time, I caught her and launched her in the air as she shrieked in surprise, before starting to laugh as I caught her again.

Glancing towards Gabi, I saw that she had Johann in her lap and was busy squishing his cheeks and telling him how clever he was. He, on the other hand, was kicking about with his new shoes that I’d gotten him, and slapping her face with his palms.

“MAAMAAAA,” Mia yelled as she ran over and jumped into the huddle. Gabi laughed and hugged the both of them tightly against her chest.

I went over and sat beside them. “Tired?” I asked the twins, and they shook their heads. They fiddled around with the ends of Gabi’s hair for a while before Johann crawled out of her lap, got up, and grabbed his ball again, running around with his arms hugged around it.

Moments later, Mia joined him, but she kicked the ball around instead of carrying it. The both of them ran around in huge circles as we watched.

“Tired?” I asked, to Gabi this time.

“Nope,” she smiled, reaching behind her to grab a bottle of water and handing it to me. “Look at them. I love them so much.”

“Me, too,” I reached over to tuck her hair behind her ear.

“You were right,” she suddenly said in a whisper. “Remember when we first found out I was pregnant? I was so scared…and you told me that there wasn’t anything to be scared of because they were ours, and they were made of our love, and we would always love them. And we do. I mean…just look at them. They’re us. They’re you and me and everything in between. And when I look at them, I see us. I see you. And that…that’s the most beautiful thing ever.”

“I was scared, too,” I said as I brought her hand to my lips. “I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know how to be a dad. But I saw how you were crying, and I thought…I had to be strong for you. Because it was a life. It is a life. It’s two lives now. And they’re running around happily in front of us. And whenever you feel alone, or sad, or whatever…remember them.”

“Remember you,” she whispered.

“I love you, Gabriele.”

“I love you too, Toni,” she pulled me close for a kiss. “I will always love you.”

“I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you, Gabi. I know that sounds pretty superficial, but then I got to know you, and God, Gabi, I just…I just loved you more every single day.”

“I have, too. I just…didn’t know it. I didn’t know how love was supposed to feel like. And you know how I found that out? Strangely enough, it was when you left. When you left for Leverkusen, when you left for midweek matches or away matches, when I moved to London, when we didn’t talk for four months. Whenever we were apart, I found out how love was supposed to feel. It feels like you, Toni. It feels like you.”

“That’s strange, because I thought love was supposed to feel like  _you_.”

She smiled, raised a hand, and placed it gently on my cheek. “Love feels like us,” she whispered.

“All those boys chasing after you and you…you chose me.”

“Well, you chose me, too. Famous footballer Toni Kroos chose  _me_.”

“I wasn’t famous then.”

“I knew you would become famous.”

“Thank you, Gabi. I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for you.”

“Me, neither,” she smiled, although her lower lip was trembling. “I would just be left in the past…I would just have forgotten everything and stayed in the past if it weren’t for you.”

“So we’re just meant to be, then?”

“Yeah,” she kissed me on the lips. “We are.”

“Love feels like us,” I sighed, using my thumb to wipe the tears that had fallen down her face. “That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.”

“You’ve been a great teacher,” she giggled before pointing to the twins, who had gathered together with their balls. “Love feels like them, too.”

“Love feels like us,” I repeated. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s two of us, or four of us.”

We sat and watched Johann and Mia as they started shooting at each other, taking turns to be the goalkeeper. As expected, Mia very much enjoyed being the striker, and she bombarded Johann with as many shots as she could handle with just two balls. Johann, on the other hand, was doing quite an admirable job stopping her shots, although he was knocked over by the balls as he caught them.

When they switched roles, though, all Johann could manage was wobble about before sending a weak shot that didn’t even reach Mia. After a while, she got tired of him and proceeded to pick up the ball and set it in front of herself, showing him how it was supposed to be done by kicking it herself. She picked up the other ball and set it in front of him, urging him to try it himself. After a few tries, there was an obvious improvement.

Gabi got up and found an empty trash can, tipping it over to provide a goal for the twins. Given the small size of their footballs, the goalmouth was an acceptable size. I got up and joined the three of them as Gabi pointed at the opening of the bin, urging them to use that as the goal.

Mia got into the groove immediately, running up to the ball and kicking it as hard as she could. Alas, it wasn’t on target, but it rolled just inches away from the side of the bin.

Gabi ran to retrieve the ball and put it back in front of her while Johann kicked his ball – but it was far from the bin, rolling a couple of feet and stopping. He turned to me, pouting, and then sat down on the ground dejectedly.

“Come on, baby, it’s okay,” I picked him up and put him on his feet as Mia sent another shot, this time coming even closer to the bin, which was about six or so feet away. I carried Johann and put him half the distance away, about three feet away from the bin. I placed the ball in front of him. “Try again, Johann,” I said as I knelt beside him.

He ran up to the ball and kicked it as hard as he could, and this time the ball hit the rim of the bin before bouncing back out. He picked it up excitedly and tried again, this time finally putting it into the bin. “YEAH!!!” he yelled, running and draping himself over my knees. “GOAL!”

“Clever boy,” I grabbed him and gave him a tight hug.

He got up and retrieved the ball from the bin as Mia prepared her next shot. This time, she, too, managed to put the ball into the goal, and she ran around merrily, crashing into Johann, the both of them landing in a heap on the ground. It looked a little like they were celebrating.

Gabi and I picked them up and set them off again, the both of them enjoying themselves shooting and retrieving the ball for the next twenty minutes. We became their cheerleaders, sitting at the side and cheering them on.

As Mia lined up what seemed like her hundredth shot (she was really enjoying herself, that little kicker), Johann waited at the side – only to let go of his ball and launch himself forward as she kicked it, running straight in the path of the ball and catching it, falling on the ground with his body draped over it, giggling manically.

Mia, Gabi, and I stared at him in pure shock as he rolled around on the grass, still grabbing tightly on to the ball and laughing. I ran up to him and pried his arms off the ball as Gabi put the other ball in front of Mia.

We didn’t know what to expect, but just as Mia kicked the ball, Johann launched himself forward again, flying at the ball and catching it before lying on the ground and panting heavily.

“Awwww!” I heard Gabi say loudly from her position next to Mia. She picked Mia up and carried her over to us. “My son is gonna be a great goalkeeper,” she beamed proudly before turning to Mia and smoothening her hair. “And my daughter a great striker.”

I thought about it, and it certainly seemed meant to be. Mia had loved kicking around with her feet since she was born, and Johann was less active, but his strongest attribute was his grip, because he loved grabbing tightly onto things and touching things. Now their strongest areas were being used on a ball, and it was one of my proudest moments.

Suddenly, Mia, who had been flopped over in Gabi’s arms, bolted upright. A look of surprise and a little horror took over her face as she gaped at me, then at Gabi. Slowly, her hand moved and grabbed her diapered butt.

“Poopoo,” she said guiltily.

Gabi burst out laughing as she stood up. “Come on, let’s go get rid of your poopoo. Wait for us here, okay?” she said to me.

“Okay,” I said. I felt a sudden urge to kiss her, so I did. I reached over and grabbed the back of her neck, pressing my lips hard against hers. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” she kissed me on the nose before she stood up, grabbed the diaper bag, and left with Mia.

Gabi’s POV

“Good job, huh?” I smiled at Mia as she did to me. “You scored many goals today.”

“Goals!” she exclaimed. “Many many!”

“You’re gonna score many goals next time and make mama and dada really proud, okay?”

“Kay,” she said, leaning her head on my shoulder. “Lurrrrrrrve mama.”

“Awww,” I laughed. She sounded just like Toni. “Mama loves you a lot, too.”

Just as we rounded the corner to the washrooms, a man with a black cloth over the bottom half of his face suddenly jumped out at us, making me step backwards in surprise. He was holding a baseball bat in one of his hands and a gleaming knife in the other.

I grabbed Mia’s head and pushed her face into my shoulder. “What do you want?” I asked, my voice trembling.

“Money,” he said, his voice muffled. “Give me all your money.”

“I don’t have any money,” I said.

“Don’t lie,” he raised his voice. “Your husband. He has money. Give me all your money.”

“Look, I don’t have money now, okay? I only brought baby stuff. I don’t have money,” I took out my phone from my pocket, along with some spare notes, and handed them to him with a trembling hand. “Here, you can have this. Take it.”

He grabbed them quickly, but didn’t leave. “More. I want more.”

“I don’t have any more,” I put the diaper bag on the ground and unzipped it with one hand. “See? It’s all baby stuff. No money.”

He rummaged about in the bag for a few moments, messing up everything inside. After finding nothing inside, he was finally convinced and stood back up. I thought he would leave, but his eyes suddenly brightened up when he caught sight of something on my body.

“That,” he pointed at my Toni and Gabi necklace. “I want that. It’s white gold, right? I want it.”

I glanced down at it. The T, G, and chain that Toni bought were white gold, but the lock and key I’d added on were silver. I didn’t think those details would aid in my cause, though, so I didn’t mention them to the scary guy.

“No,” I whispered, leaving the diaper bag on the ground and backing away discreetly. “No, I can’t give you that.”

He lifted his knife a little higher. “I want it. Give it to me.”

“I can’t,” I said, about to burst into tears. Mia, fortunately, was just leaning obediently on my shoulder without making a sound. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“STOP BACKING AWAY FROM ME!” he yelled, making me stop in my tracks immediately.

“I can’t give it to you,” I repeated. I couldn’t imagine myself without it. Toni had given it to me all those years ago, and it meant the world to me. I’d rather lose my life than lose it. “I can’t. I’m sorry. I can’t give you anything. You…why don’t you just leave, okay? I won’t say anything. I promise.”

“Give it to me,” he said firmly. “Fucking give it to me, bitch.”

“No,” I said again. Mia had begun to whimper, but I just pressed her harder into my shoulder. “Shhh,” I said to her.

“Then give me your daughter.”

“NO!” I yelled. I was at my breaking point. “I can’t give you anything, you hear? Nothing at all. Just…just go! I won’t say a thing.”

He seemed a little startled at my outburst. Suddenly, as if he realised that if I screamed any more, I would attract more attention, he took one step towards me.

I ran. I turned around and started running, grabbing on to Mia for dear life. I heard the clink of his knife as he dropped it on the ground, and the muffled mutter of ‘fuck’ as he decided to run after me instead of picking the knife up.

I knew I had to run to a less isolated place, so I ran back the way I came, towards the big patch of grass. Just as I’d rounded the final corner and caught sight of Toni, I heard a loud cracking sound and felt a sudden jolt of pain in the back of my head as I was struck by the baseball bat. Using my arms to shield Mia and protect her from any more hits, I fell onto the ground, my eyes closed and my head throbbing. I felt myself drifting, drifting further and further.

“Mia,” I whispered with all the energy I had left. “Mia, I love you. I love you. Tell dada…dada and Johann. I love them…love dada…love Johann.”

“Mama,” she mumbled into my shirt. “Mama!”

“Shhh,” I whispered. “Be good. I love you.”

And then, all was black. I couldn’t see anything, I couldn’t hear anything. Everything was dark, and I was lost.


	37. Déjà vu

Toni’s POV

“Gabi,” I whispered as I saw her running out from behind the bushes, before there was a flash of a wooden bat and she was flat on the ground. I picked Johann up and ran towards her. “Gabi!”

I put Johann down a short distance away from the bushes so he could stay away from the danger. “Stay here, okay baby?” I whispered, giving him a kiss on the head. Fortunately, he just sat there obediently, fiddling around with his new shoes.

“Dada,” I heard Mia mumble, her voice muffled by Gabi’s shirt, as she peeked out at me.

“Shhh,” I put my finger on my lips. Cautiously, I stepped around the bushes and saw a half-masked man standing there with a bat poised to hit Gabi if she got up. He startled when he saw me, his eyes full of fear, as if he’d never meant to hit Gabi and that he didn’t know what to do now that she was knocked out.

I fished out my phone from my pocket and held it out at him. “I’ll call the police if you don’t leave right now.”

He stood frozen to the spot, but he dropped the bat and held his arms in the air. “I…I’m –“

I unlocked my phone and dialled the police. Before I pressed ‘call,’ I showed the screen to him. “Do you want to leave, or not?”

“Okay, okay,” he said, his voice muffled by the black cloth. He took out Gabi’s phone and some money and flung them at me. “Sorry. Bye.”

I fell to my knees next to Gabi as he made his escape. She had a death grip on Mia, so I pried her out of Gabi’s arms. “Are you okay, baby? Are you hurt?”

“Dada,” she said, her voice trembling, before she suddenly burst into tears. “Dada,” she sobbed.

“Shhh, baby,” I held her close to my chest. Mia rarely cried even as a baby, but on that day she was so frightened she was in tears. “It’s okay. Everything’s fine.”

After checking and seeing that she wasn’t hurt, I put her down on the ground and went to check on Gabi. Fortunately, she was still breathing, but her body was cold, and she was bleeding from the back of her neck. There was also blood on her forehead from when she fell and hit her head. “Gabi,” I called, trying to keep myself from crying. “Gabi, please stay strong. Please don’t do this to me.”

I dialled for an ambulance as Mia crawled back to us, tears still streaming down her face. She crawled up on Gabi and stroked her face. “Mama,” she sobbed. “Mia…Mia love mama.”

“Shhh,” I grabbed her and cradled her in my arms as I hung up after informing the paramedics of our location. “Mama will be just fine. She’ll be just fine.”

I went and retrieved Johann, and the three of us sat beside Gabi to wait for the ambulance. Obviously, Johann didn’t understand what was going on, and he was immediately convinced when I told him that Gabi was just sleeping and she would wake up soon. Mia, though, was still stroking Gabi’s face lovingly, her body shaking with sobs.

Johann crawled over to Mia and turned her to face him. “Sleep,” he told her. “Mama sleep.”

“Mama,” she wept as Johann touched her cheeks, wiping away her tears. “Mama…mama love Johann…mama love dada. Mama tell Mia. Mia tell Johann.”

“Oh, Gabi,” I whispered. I reached over and planted my lips on her head. “I love you so much. Please be strong, baby. I love you.”

I used my shirt to clean Mia’s face. “Don’t cry, okay baby? Dada loves you. You’re a strong girl, right? Don’t cry. Dada is really proud of you.”

We sat there, silently except for Mia’s soft sobbing, until the ambulance arrived five minutes later. We followed it in a taxi and waited impatiently outside the emergency room as the doctors handled Gabi. Mia couldn’t stop crying even after I changed her soiled diaper with one the hospital provided, and she only calmed down when I repeatedly stroked her back and sung her a lullaby until she fell asleep in my arms.

Johann was sitting in the chair next to me with both the footballs, playing with them in his lap forlornly. He still believed that Gabi was asleep, because he turned to me and asked, “Mia sleep? Mama sleep, Mia sleep?”

“Yeah,” I smiled at him. “Do you want to sleep, too?”

He shook his head. “Johann with dada.”

Although I was still worried about Gabi, I laughed and hauled Johann into my lap. “Good boy.”

He reached to my face and pulled the sides of my lips upwards. “Dada happy.”

“Dada will always be happy as long as I have you,” I whispered, but he didn’t understand and just stared at me, confused. He leaned his head on my chest and on Mia’s head and soon, he too fell asleep.

I sighed and hugged the twins close to me. “Gabi,” I whispered. “I love you. Please hang on. Everything will be fine. Remember you told me…you just told me a few hours ago that love feels like us. Two of us or four of us. Not  _three_  of us. We’re not complete without you, Gabriele. I don’t…I don’t want to see you like that on a hospital bed anymore. I love you, Gabi.”

——

I was suddenly jolted awake by a nurse tapping me on the shoulder, startling Mia and Johann, who groaned in unison. “What?” I asked, confused, before remembering that I was in hospital. I stood up and put the twins down on the seat next to me, where they collapsed into a comfortable heap while leaning against each other. “How’s my wife?” I asked the nurse.

“She’s not in critical condition,” she said. “She fractured her skull, and she might have some injury to her brain, depending on the results of the scan, but she’s fine now. She might not be awake for the next few days, though. She’s in the third room on the right.”

I thanked her, picked up the twins, and rushed into the private room. There was a couch at the side, fortunately, so I lay the twins down and let them sleep comfortably. There was a doctor and another nurse in the room, and they greeted me when I entered.

“There was some swelling in the back of her brain,” the doctor explained to me. “She also fractured her skull in that area. It will heal on its own, probably after the swelling of her brain has died down. It might take a few days for her to wake up again.”

“Will it affect her in any way?” I asked. “Like…her memory?”

“Oh, probably not, the memory centre is not in the back. But she will most likely wake up with a concussion, and she will need a lot of rest.”

“Thank you,” I said, and they gave me warm smiles as they left the room, leaving me alone with Gabi and the sleeping twins. I almost burst into tears as I saw her lying on the bed, hooked up to a heart monitor. I never wanted to see her like that ever again, but there she was.

“Gabi,” I whispered as I sat next to her and grabbed her hand. “Gabi, I love you. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Gabi. Please be strong…please, you’ll be just fine,” I leaned over and kissed her head before resting my lips on the back of her hand. “I love you so much. I’m so sorry.”

I pushed her hair aside, revealing the white bandage on her forehead, and kissed her wound. And then, as the entire day’s events replayed in my head – first enjoying ourselves so thoroughly while watching the twins play football, and then talking to each other about how love felt like, and finally, watching her fall to the ground motionless – I couldn’t help but burst into tears. I pressed Gabi’s hand to my cheek as tears rolled down my face. “Gabi,” I called. “Gabi, I can’t live without you. You know I can’t live without you. I love you so much. Please, please…I know you can do this. We’re all rooting for you. All three of us.”

If she could hear me, I didn’t want her to hear me cry. So I gave her another kiss on her temple before moving to the couch, letting the twins lie on my lap so they would be more comfortable.

“I love you, Gabi,” I whispered again before closing my eyes, leaning my head on the back of the couch, and crying myself to sleep.

Gabi’s POV

It was so dark. I couldn’t even open my eyes. My head was throbbing so badly, but I couldn’t even move to react to it. I couldn’t move anything. Was I asleep? Dreaming? I didn’t know. How long had I been like this?

There was a loud screech from my left side, and I immediately recognised it as Johann’s. Why was Johann screeching? I begged my eyes to open, but they wouldn’t listen.

“Shhh, baby,” Toni whispered. “Mama is sleeping, remember?”

“Mama sleep,” he agreed.

“Foooooood,” Mia demanded.

“Are you hungry?” I could almost see Toni smile. “I’ll get some food for you…oh, we left your bag at…” he choked back a sob, and there was a brief period of silence before he continued shakily. “Wanna come with me to the cafeteria? I’ll get you some mashed potatoes.”

I heard the twins start clapping at the sound of mashed potatoes, and then something, like a couch, rustled as they got up. Moments later, Toni was at my side, kissing my head. “We’ll be right back, baby,” he whispered. “I love you. Please be strong.”

Be strong? Why? I willed myself to move, but I just couldn’t. The door clicked shut.  _No_ , I wanted to scream.  _Don’t leave me. Toni! Where are you? Where are you going? I’m here. I’m right here. Don’t cry, Toni. I’m right here._

——

I still couldn’t move. I didn’t know how much time had passed. I had no sense of time at all. I wished I could ask Toni what day it was. But I couldn’t move no matter how hard I tried. I could feel Toni’s hand on mine, though, as he slept – I knew, because his cheek was also on my hand and it was moving rhythmically.

Where were the twins? Were they alright? Could Toni cope? I wanted so much to talk to him and tell him I was okay. I was there. I was right there with him. Why couldn’t he hear me?

——

There was movement on my torso. Slight, but I recognised it. The twins.

“Be gentle, okay?” Toni said softly. “Don’t hurt mama.”

“Mama sleep?” Mia asked. “Mama sleep very long.”

“She’s taking a nice long rest because you two tire her out,” he sighed.

Johann draped himself over me. “Miss mama.”

Johann. I love you, Johann. I love you, Mia. I miss you so much. And I’m sorry. I’m trying…I’m trying so hard, but I just can’t move. I want to hold you so badly, but I can’t move. Everything is dark. Come and save me…come and bring colour to my life. I miss you, Toni. Come…bring me colour. Bring me light.

——

I jolted awake again – but my eyes just wouldn’t open. I had a dream. A nightmare. Please, please let me open my eyes. I want to hold Toni…I want Toni to hold me and tell me everything was alright.

And then, horror set in as I realised that it wasn’t a dream, just a memory. It really happened. I got robbed, and then I got whacked with a baseball bat.

Mia! How was Mia? Was she okay? Hurt? Scraped? Bruised? Mia, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.

Oh, please, let me move. I need to move. I need to hold my family. My children. Please.

I tried so hard I cried – or at least I felt myself cry. I didn’t know if I really cried. I didn’t know if anything was real or not. It was all so dark.

Suddenly, Toni’s grip on my hand tightened. “Gabi,” he whispered urgently. “Gabi, I saw you move. You can do it.”

Oh, he sounded so tired. I’m here, Toni. I’m right here. Please don’t cry…please get some rest.

“Gabi,” he said, his voice cracking. “Oh, Gabi, don’t cry. I know you’re trying. I know you can hear me. You can do this, okay? I trust you.”

He reached out and wiped my cheeks. So I  _was_  crying!  _Toni! I’m right here. Please…please help me get out. Please…it’s so dark. I’m so scared._

“I’m right here,” Toni continued, his voice trembling.

Oh, I’m here too! God, please let me move.

“I know you can do it, Gabi. I know you can.”

He plopped back down and started talking to me, telling me about the twins and how he felt proud of himself for handling them on his own. He told me how they could eat a little solid mashed potatoes from the hospital cafeteria, and how he’d called my mum to come and visit, and she was coming alone because no one else could take any days off.

I wanted so badly to listen to him as he spoke. His voice was so soothing, and I could listen to it every second. But I couldn’t help but drift off again; I drifted off to sleep, desperately clinging on to Toni’s hand in my mind, but not being able to do anything physically.

Toni’s POV

Gabi’s mum was sitting in the chair next to the bed as I entered the room with the twins in their pram. It was early morning when I received the call that she’d arrived, and I hurriedly placed the sleeping twins in their pram before driving to the hospital. Fortunately, I still had around two weeks of my summer break left, so I could stay with Gabi.

“What time did you come?” I asked Mrs. Meiser.

“I reached the airport at around six in the morning, it was the earliest flight I could get. I reached here around seven.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” she smiled. Suddenly, she stood up and gave me a tight hug. “I know it’s hard for you to sit through this again,” she whispered. “But you have to be strong. You’re Gabi’s pillar of strength, and God knows what would happen to her if you weren’t around.”

“I know,” I whispered back, trying my hardest not to cry as I hugged her. “She’s my pillar of strength, too. More than she would ever know.”

“She’ll be fine. I believe in her.”

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

“It’s not your fault, Toni. No one wanted this to happen.”

“But it always happens when I’m around. It’s like I’m her jinx.”

“No, darling, don’t say that. It isn’t your fault at all. Maybe it’s just bad luck, that’s all.”

“I like to believe that it’s because she’s so beautiful, the devil gets jealous.”

She laughed, letting go of me and turning her gaze to Gabi. “That’s it. That’s very accurate.”

“I really admire your work, Mrs. Meiser.”

She laughed again. “Oh, I love your jokes, Toni.”

“Gabi does, too,” I choked back a sob. “I miss her so much. It’s only been three days, but I miss her.”

“The twins miss her too, I’m sure.”

“They do,” I smiled at the pram, where they were still sleeping. Suddenly, the thought that had been overwhelming me for the past few days came upon me again. “I hope she doesn’t lose her memory again.”

“She won’t,” Mrs. Meiser said, albeit a little doubtfully.

We sat on the couch and talked for the next couple of hours until the twins awoke, and smiles took over their faces as they spotted their grandmother beaming at them. They immediately ran up to her and climbed up the couch to be in her embrace, giggling as they did so.

“How are you?” she asked them as she neatened their messy sleep hair. “How are my darling grandchildren? My strong, beautiful grandchildren?”

As if he understood her question, Johann rubbed his tummy. “Hungry,” he said, leading Mrs. Meiser to laugh lovingly at him.

“There’s some milk in the bag,” I told her, referring to the diaper bag hanging on the pram.

“I’ll feed them outside,” she said, putting them back into the pram and wheeling them out of the room. “You can have some private time with your wife.”

I went over to Gabi’s bedside, poured a glass of water, and wet a cotton tip. I used it to dab her dry lips so they wouldn’t crack and hurt.

“Gabi, baby,” I whispered. “Why won’t you wake up? I miss you so much. I know you can do it. Please…please wake up and tell me you’re alright. Your mum is here to see you now, you know? She’s feeding Johann and Mia. They miss you a lot, and they’ve been asking about you all the time. ‘Mama sleep?’ ‘Mama tired?’ ‘Miss mama.’ I don’t know how long I can live like this, Gabi. I can’t do this without you. Please…I’m waiting for you. I believe in you, baby. I love you so much.”

I stood up, put the cotton tip away, and leaned over to give her a lingering kiss on her head, moving her hair aside in the process.

When I stood up, Gabi’s eyes were moving violently behind her eyelids. Her grip on my hand tightened so much, I almost couldn’t feel it anymore. Tears fell down the sides of her face, as if she was putting all her effort and energy into something, or if she was having a bad dream.

“Gabi,” I whispered, tears falling down my own face as I saw her. I sat back down, my legs giving way. “Gabi, it’s alright. I’m here. I’m right here, baby.”

Suddenly, her eyes shot open violently and she was staring straight at the ceiling. Her other hand flew to her face, touching it urgently, before she turned in my direction after finding that nothing was wrong with her face except for the bandage on her forehead.

“Gabi,” I said again, my voice trembling. She was just staring at me with a horrified expression on her face, not unlike the one she had when she woke up from her coma after the car accident. “Gabi, can you see me? Do you know who I am?”

“Toni,” she whispered. Her other hand joined the tangle of hands on this side, travelling slowly up my arm until it reached my face and she was caressing it gently. “You’re Toni. My husband. We have two kids…twins…we’re in Spain, and I got robbed and hit by a bat.”

“Oh, thank God,” I pulled her upright and wrapped my arms tightly around her. “You’re okay. Gabi, you’re okay. I love you so much.”

“Toni,” she repeated, her tone turning urgent. “Toni!”

“Yeah?” I stroked her back gently. “What’s wrong? Does it hurt anywhere?”

“Toni,” she sobbed. “Toni, I can’t see anything. Why is it so dark? I can’t see. Toni, I can’t see.”


	38. Be My Light

Toni’s POV

“What do you mean you can’t see?” I asked, trying my best to not fall to the ground in a heap. “You can’t see anything? Anything at all?”

“Are the lights on?” she sobbed.

“They are,” I whispered, reaching over her to turn the lights up until they were at their brightest. “It’s nine in the morning.”

“But I can’t see!” she yelled. “What’s happening? What’s wrong with me?”

“Shhhh,” I pressed her tear-stained face into my shoulder. “Calm down, Gabi. Just calm down.”

“I can’t see,” she repeated, her voice thick. “Toni, I can’t see.”

“What’s wrong?” Gabi’s mum, who I supposed had heard all the noise, popped her head around the door. “Gabi! You’re awake!”

“Ma,” she sobbed. “Ma, I can’t see.”

“I’ll go get the doctor, okay?” I whispered. “Can you stay here yourself? I’ll be right back.”

I tried to stand up, but she tugged violently on my arm and made me sit back down. “No…no, don’t leave me. I can’t see anything. I don’t want you to leave me.”

I turned apologetically towards Mrs. Meiser, who nodded at me and went to get a doctor. I held on tightly to Gabi, who was shaking uncontrollably. She couldn’t stop crying, and she grabbed fistfuls of the back of my shirt and pulled hard, her hands trembling.

“Gabi,” I whispered into her ear. “Gabi, listen to me. It’ll all be alright. I promise you, it’ll all be alright. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever known. You’ll get through this.  _We’ll_  get through this. I’ll be with you. Every step of the way. You hear that? I’ll always be here. Always.”

“I love you so much,” she quivered. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I’m such a burden.”

“No, baby, you’re not. Don’t ever say that.”

Just then, Mrs. Meiser returned to the room with a doctor and a nurse, who proceeded to pry Gabi’s arms off my body with a gentle apology. She lay Gabi back down on the bed and wound it up so she was halfway sitting up. Mrs. Meiser left the room to be with the twins.

“Okay, Gabriele,” the doctor said softly with a little torch in his hand. “I’m going to need you to stop crying so we can take a look at your eyes, okay?”

“Okay,” Gabi said, her hands clenched into fists, as I reached over and wiped her tears with my hands. The doctor went over to her, opened her eye wider with his fingers, and shone the torch directly into it.

Gabi didn’t flinch at all. Not even a single bit. She just sat there, calmly but still shivering, as the doctor shone the torch into her eyes and wiggled it around for a little bit. After examining her other eye as well, he put the torch away and asked, “What do you see? Any light or shadows?”

“Light,” Gabi whispered. “I can see light. But…it isn’t exactly light. It’s just…a bright round spot…but not really bright…it’s like, a blurry spot.”

“And everything else?” he asked. Gabi shook her head, and he held up three fingers. “Can you see how many fingers I’m holding up?”

“No,” Gabi started sobbing again. “No, I can’t.”

He took out his torch again and slid a piece of paper over it so the beam of light wasn’t round. “Can you tell the shape of the light?”

Gabi frantically wiped her tears. “It’s…a square,” she said correctly.

The doctor adjusted the torch so that it shone a red beam of light. “Colour?”

“Red,” Gabi whispered.

The doctor kept his torch for good and checked Gabi’s records. “Does it hurt anywhere else?”

“My head…” she choked, grabbing the back of her head. “My head hurts.”

“You fractured your skull,” the doctor hesitated. “Gabriele, get some rest. I need to talk to your husband outside.”

“No,” she whispered, waving her arms around to grab mine. “No, don’t leave me here.”

She couldn’t find my hands because she couldn’t see, so I reached out and grabbed them. “Can we talk here?”

“I think…it’s better if we talk outside, with her mother,” he gave me a knowing look which Gabi couldn’t see.

I sat down next to Gabi, who had begun to sob uncontrollably again. “Gabi, baby, it’s okay. I’ll just be outside. I’ll be back soon. Just lie down, okay? Lie down, close your eyes, and have some rest. I’ll be back before you know it. Okay baby? I love you so much.”

“Okay,” she mumbled. She lay back down on her side, facing away from us, as I tucked the blanket comfortably around her.

“What’s wrong?” Mrs. Meiser asked, the twins back in their pram sleeping in front of her.

“Gabriele has some temporary blindness in both eyes,” the doctor wasted no time in explaining. “Her pupils are still responding appropriately to light, so I’m suspecting the cause is neurological, specifically in the occipital cortex in her brain. It might be damaged, or the swelling in her brain might be pressing on the optic nerve. In other words, there’s nothing wrong with her eyes. I’ll schedule an MRI for her to see what exactly the problem is, and then we can move forward from there. She might suffer from intense headaches, nausea, confusion, or slow response. All these are typical signs of head injury.

“I’m telling you this in private because I don’t want to agitate her. I think the two of you know her best, so you might know of a better way to handle this with her. I’ll let you know about the schedule for the scan and our plans for the next stage. Meanwhile, make sure she gets plenty of rest. If she’s tired or stressed, her vision might become worse.”

Mrs. Meiser and I thanked him before he smiled and left, and then we returned into the room with the twins. Gabi flinched as we entered, before she turned around and gazed around blindly. “Toni?” she called. “Is that you?”

“Yes, baby,” I said as I sat down and took her hand. “And your mum, and the twins.”

“What’s wrong with me?”

“It’s temporary,” I told her. “There’s nothing wrong with your beautiful eyes. It just might be the nerves. They’re taking you for a scan, and then they’ll let us know.”

She let go of my hand and wrapped her arms tightly around me. “I’m scared,” she whispered. “I’m so scared, Toni.”

“Don’t be,” I kissed the side of her hair. “I’ll always be here for you.”

“What if I go blind forever?”

“You’ll still be my beautiful Gabriele.”

She forced a trembling smile. “How are the twins?”

“They’re sleeping,” I said, but I turned towards the pram only to see that Mia was awake and in Mrs. Meiser’s arms. “Mia’s awake now. Do you want to hold her?”

“Mamaaaaaa,” Mia shrieked excitedly as Mrs. Meiser brought her over to the bed.

“Hey, baby,” Gabi smiled, trying to keep her voice from trembling. “Were you really scared? I’m so sorry. Mama’s so sorry.”

“Mama,” Mia grinned happily. “Mama wake.”

“You’ve been sleeping for three days,” I explained.

“Did you miss me?” she asked Mia.

“Miss mama,” Mia nodded urgently, not knowing that Gabi couldn’t see her.

Laughing, Gabi held Mia close to her in a tight hug. She sat there silently for the next few minutes, gently stroking her back and occasionally giving her soft kisses on her hair.

About a half-hour later, Johann awoke, and Gabi’s mum brought him over to us. “Johann on your left,” she told Gabi, who extended her left arm blindly. It almost tore me apart to see her doing that.

I sat next to them on the bed and wiped Gabi’s tears, which had fallen without her knowledge. I wanted so much to just hold her tightly, to hold all of them tightly and protect them from the world, but right then, my beautiful Gabi’s beautiful eyes weren’t working and my world was falling apart.

Gabi’s POV

“Mama,” Johann called eagerly as I wrapped my arm around him. He grabbed my fingers and started playing with them.

“Hey, baby,” I smiled. “How are you?”

He let go of my fingers, and moments later his hands were on my face, nudging the corners of my lips upwards. “Mama happy.”

“Aww,” I laughed, puckering my lips. “Come on, you two, give mama a kiss.”

Their little wet lips landed on both my cheeks, making me forget all my problems. I lifted them and crossed my legs so they were sitting in my lap instead of on my thighs. Although I really couldn’t see anything except for the shapes of their heads, I raised my hands to smoothen their hair in the rough position that I thought they were at.

Suddenly, there was a loud yelp, followed by screeching and then wailing. I removed my hands from Mia and Johann immediately as one of them was lifted from my lap and Toni was busy shushing him. Or her.

“What happened?” I asked, deciding not to touch the twins anymore and instead leaving my hands in the air.

“You poked Johann in the cheek,” Toni said.

“BOOBOO,” Johann shrieked.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

Mia had gone quiet, and I thought she was just sitting obediently in my lap until I felt around gently and realised that she wasn’t there anymore. “She’s here,” my mum said, as if she’d read my mind. “She’s scared by all the noise.”

“Johann,” I called. “Johann, I’m sorry.”

He continued sobbing, and Toni continued shushing him, telling him that everything was okay. “Shhh, baby, don’t cry,” he whispered. “Everything’s fine. You’re just fine.”

“I’m sorry,” I sobbed. It hurt me so much whenever the twins were hurt in any way. “I’m so sorry. Can I hold him? Johann, let mama hold you.”

Toni passed Johann to me, positioning my arms so I could cradle him. He continued crying, hiccupping as he did so, and burying his face in the front of my shirt. “Booboo,” he sobbed.

“Does he have a bruise?” I asked, not being able to stop my own tears. “Is he hurt?”

“His cheek is a little red,” Toni said.

“Oh, my God,” I whispered, feeling carefully for Johann’s head and sweeping his hair back. “I’m so sorry, Johann.”

“Mama,” he mumbled, nuzzling my shirt. “Booboo.”

“Why don’t I take them home?” I heard my mum say, but I couldn’t see the shape of her face any longer. I couldn’t seem to see anything. It was like my vision had become worse, if that was possible.

“I’ll drive you,” Toni said.

“Toni…” I said, reluctant to let him go, just as my mum said, “Why don’t you stay with Gabi?”

The bed dipped slightly as Toni sat down next to me. “Baby, it’s okay. Let me drive your mum home. I’ll be back really quick, okay?”

“Okay,” I agreed reluctantly, carefully bringing Johann’s head to my lips. “Can you…brighten the lights before you leave?”

“They’re already…” Toni said, before there was a short period of silence. “Okay,” he finally said.

“Bye, Johann,” I said. “Bye, Mia.”

“Byeee,” Johann said as Toni removed him from my arms.

“Bye, Gabi,” my mum gave me a kiss on the head. “You’re going to be just fine. I love you.”

“Thanks, ma,” I sobbed. “I love you so much. Thanks for taking care of the twins.”

“It’s okay.”

“Mama bye!” Mia said, her voice suddenly further away as the pram was pushed out the door – by my mum, I supposed, because Toni was still by my side.

“I love you, baby,” he said softly, pressing his lips hard against mine. “Have a good rest, okay? I’ll be back really soon. Come on, lie down now.”

He tucked me comfortably under the blanket before giving me another kiss on the temple. “Bye,” I whispered. “I love you.”

“I love you too, baby,” he said, and I didn’t even notice him walking out the door, but moments later everything was silent and everyone was gone.

I sighed and turned to the side – I didn’t even know if I was facing the window or the door. I took a few deep breaths, and gradually I could see a little better. I could see the shape of the light above the bed, at least, and a little light from the window which orientated me a little better.

The unusual darkness that enveloped me was overwhelming, though, and I had to work extra hard to prevent myself from scratching my eyes out in a desperate attempt to make them work again. I settled instead with my hands over my face as I sobbed quietly into them, wondering why things had to be this way and if I would ever recover.

Thinking on the bright side to distract myself, I was grateful that nothing bad had happened to Mia or anyone else in my family. It didn’t matter that I was hurt. As long as everyone I loved was fine, everything would be worth it.

I tried my best to drift to sleep, but I just couldn’t. Strangely, the room was becoming brighter; too bright for my liking. Bright, but I couldn’t see a thing. I lifted the blanket to cover my head and the situation improved. I examined the back of my head gently with my hand and found that it was a little swollen and bruised, and there was a little bandage there. Sighing, I turned back to my side, buried my throbbing head under a pillow and the blanket, and tried not to cry as I closed my eyes, pretended the darkness was just the back of my eyelids, and drifted to a happier place.

Toni’s POV

Gabi didn’t flinch this time when I opened the door to her hospital room. She was curled up in a ball, facing the windows, buried under her blanket and one of her pillows. The room was almost blindingly bright with all the lights at full blast and the late morning light shining in through the window.

“Gabi,” I whispered as I sat down, afraid that she was asleep. “Are you awake?”

“Yeah,” she mumbled. “Can you lie with me?”

There was a human-sized space behind her, so I removed my shoes and lay there, wrapping my arms tightly around her. “How are you feeling?” I asked, removing the pillow and smoothening her hair.

“Blind,” she said. “And I puked. The nurse had to come clean it up.”

“The doctor said you might feel nauseous because of your head.”

“And it’s too bright,” she grumbled.

I reached above the bed and turned the lights off. It was afternoon, and the light was flooding in the window. “Better?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she whispered.

“I love you, Gabriele,” I kissed the back of her head. “Please don’t cry. There’s nothing wrong with your gorgeous eyes, but if you continue crying there will be.”

“I love you, too,” she sobbed, a hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry. Was Mia really scared?”

“She cried for a few hours while repeating that you told her to tell us that you loved us.”

“Oh, Mia,” she let out a little laugh. “And Johann? I’m sorry I hurt him. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, baby. He’s a strong young man.”

“Is he still complaining about booboos?”

“Nope, your mum said she’d make more mashed potatoes for him and he shut up.”

She smiled, her lower lip trembling. “I wish I could see all your faces.”

“You’re the strongest, most amazing person in my life,” I whispered, my arm back around her waist. “Why do bad things always have to happen to you?”

“I don’t know,” she said, her voice thick. “Maybe I’m just not meant to live.”

“No, baby, don’t say that.”

“Just think about it. How many times have I almost died?”

“But here you are. You’re still here, safe and sound. You’ll never be taken down, Gabi.”

“It does seem like someone wants me to be taken down, though.”

“I’ll never let that happen,” I assured her.

I caught her smiling as she closed her eyes. “Every time I almost died, you saved me.”

“Everything will be just fine, Gabi. I promise you. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“I love you so much.”

I turned her head around and kissed her on the lips. “I love you more. Please don’t cry anymore. Please get some rest. It’ll help in your recovery.”

“Hold me. Don’t leave me. I feel so lost without you.”

“Don’t worry, Gabi. I’ll always be here.”

“Even if the nurse comes and yells at you?”

I laughed. “Yes, even if the nurse comes and yells at me.”

“Always?” she asked, sliding her fingers in between mine.

I tucked her hair behind her ear and planted a kiss on her cheek.

“Always,“ I promised.


	39. Crushed

Gabi’s POV

“Ready?” Toni asked as he gave my hand a soft squeeze.

“Yeah,” I smiled.

“YEAH!” Mia and Johann screamed in unison from my lap. “MAMA YEAH!”

I laughed and gave them little kisses on their heads. I could at least see their heads now, but I was due for a surgery in fifteen minutes to further relieve the pressure on my brain, or optic nerve, or something like that. I wasn’t really up for all those science-y terms, but Toni seemed to be totally up for it. I couldn’t see his face, but just the sound of his voice made me smile.

To be completely honest, I was freaking out. They were going to cut through my skull and do stuff to my brain. How could I not be? But Toni had high hopes, and I wasn’t going to cry and collapse in front of him and the twins.

Toni’s soft lips suddenly landed on mine, making me smile again. “We’re all rooting for you, okay?” he tucked my hair behind my ear. “Right? We’re all rooting for mama. She’s going to be able to see your cute little chubby faces again.”

Johann gave a loud screech and clapped his hands, while Mia grabbed my face. “Maamaaaaa,” she giggled, slapping my cheeks.

A few more minutes of cuddling and kissing the twins later, the nurse came to wheel me to the operating theatre. My mum was waiting outside, and she, too, told me she was rooting for me as she gave me a kiss on my head.

Toni walked beside me and held my hand as I sat in the wheelchair, despite the nurse telling him to wait in the corridor. I heard him ask the nurse for permission to stay with me for a few minutes, and I heard her agree reluctantly. The both of them helped me on to another hospital bed.

“Are we alone now?” I asked after a few seconds of silence.

“Yeah, for five minutes.”

“I love you, Toni.”

“I love you, too,” he whispered. “You have to be strong, okay? You’re my beautiful, strong, amazing Gabriele. I can’t live without you. You know I can’t.”

“Why are you saying all these? Are you going to donate your optic nerve to me or something?”

“No!” he burst out laughing. “Gabi, that’s physically impossible.”

“How do you know? How do you even know all these stuff like whatever cortex of my brain or whatever it is that you talk about?”

“Ummm,” he fumbled nervously with my fingers. “I did some research. You know…so I could understand how they were helping you.”

“Toni,” I whispered.

“I love you, Gabriele. I just want you to be okay.”

“I want me to be okay, too. I want to see your handsome face.”

“I want you to see my handsome face,” he teased.

“Shut up!”

He laughed, before going silent seconds later. A few more moments of him sliding his fingers gently between mine, he said, “Can I ask you something? You know…just curious.”

I nodded, and he continued. “Would you rather be blind…or lose all your memory?”

I thought about it, but it only took me about five seconds before I knew. I reached out to where his blurry face was and grabbed it with both hands. Somehow, my lips found his perfectly, even though I couldn’t see them. He appeared shocked for only a moment before his hands slid up and rested on my neck and his lips started moving urgently. He discreetly extended his tongue and opened my lips, letting it mingle with mine, and he leaned against me so hard that I had to lean back on the bed.

Soon, it was as if he didn’t even care about the answer anymore. He was almost climbing on the bed next to me. His hands were all over me, and I distinctly remembered when we were on that boat in the Maldives during our honeymoon, and he asked me if I wanted to do something new. Well, sex on a hospital bed while I was blind was definitely new.

My hands slid eagerly up into his hair and twisted into them, but before I could do anything more, there was the sound of someone clearing their throat from a short distance away, and Toni and I pulled apart immediately.

“Wow,” Toni whispered to me. “Um, it’s the nurse. Hey.”

“Having a good time?” she asked, making me giggle.

I could almost see the shy smile on Toni’s face as he said, “Sorry. She’s all yours.”

He stood up to leave, but I reached out and found his arm. “Can he stay with me?” I asked. “At least until I fall asleep? Please?”

She gave a long sigh, and I felt so lucky that I couldn’t see the look on her face. “Fine,” she said.

Toni grabbed my hand and kissed it as the nurse swabbed my other hand and prepared to inject me with anaesthetic. Soon, I felt myself feeling woozier, my head became heavier and I just wanted to sleep. And then, I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t answered Toni’s question.

“Toni,” I whispered.

“Yeah?”

With all the energy I could muster, I rolled my head in his direction. “I would rather be blind…because I’d rather not see you than not remember you.”

His lips were upturned as he kissed me on the head. “I love you so much, Gabi. Go to sleep now.”

“I love you, too. Sing to me.”

The nurse gave another sigh as Toni began singing, gently stroking the back of my hand with one of his hands and caressing my face with the other. Soon, I was gone, I was lost to the final words he said to me, which were, “Good night, beautiful. I love you, and I’ll see you soon.”

———

Waking up this time was much easier. I didn’t have to try so hard to open my eyes; they opened in one try – except nothing had changed.

I still couldn’t see a thing.

I fumbled around blindly for Toni only to feel that he was sleeping at my bedside, his head rested on my right hand. I tried to run my fingers through his hair with my other hand, but I only succeeded in smacking him in the face and waking him up.

“Hey,” he said sleepily. “You’re awake.”

“Toni,” I sobbed. “Toni, I still can’t see.”

“Shhh,” he used his thumbs to wipe my tears. “The doctor said it’ll take a while. It’s fine.”

“Really?”

“Yes, baby. You know I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“So everything’s fine?”

“Everything’s fine,” he promised. “They managed to relieve the pressure in your brain, but you might still feel a little achey and stuff. The doctor said you might be able to see in a while, but it could happen really slowly. So we just have to be patient, I guess.”

“Okay,” I said reluctantly as he reached over and gave me a hug. “How long did I sleep? How are the twins? And my mum?”

“They’re fine, they’re all at home. You’ve been sleeping for around five hours. It’s evening now.”

“When can I go home?” I asked.

“In a couple of days,” he said, just as the door opened and someone put a metal tray on the table. Toni said a polite thanks, and seconds later the door was closed. “Your dinner’s here,” he told me.

“Is it white and bland? Now that I can’t see, I can taste really well, and hospital food really sucks.”

He laughed. “I brought you some chicken soup. It’s still warm. Do you want to drink that instead?”

“Yes, please,” I said more eagerly than I’d wanted to. “Oh, you’re the best husband in the universe!”

“Because you deserve it,” he said. I could almost see him smile. “Open up, the airplane is coming!”

I burst out laughing, and the rest of our little dinner date was just filled with childish giggles and lame jokes as Toni fed me spoonful after spoonful until the bowl was empty. In that half an hour or so, I was almost cautiously optimistic that everything would be alright; despite the fear of being too overconfident, I still felt a little improvement – shapes were sharper and light sources were less dull. And I could almost see Toni’s lips as he spoke and as he smiled. I couldn’t wait for the day that I could see it in full once again; for the day I could finally see my family again.

Toni’s POV

Gabi was able to return home after three days, but her vision had only improved a little. I’d hung our old Christmas lights on our stairs so that she could use them as a guide. Nevertheless, she spent most of the day only on one floor, and used the stairs as little as she could afford to. She spent all her time with the twins, although she tried her best not to touch them and accidentally hurt them.

During the entire week that she’d been home, she’d frequently wake up in the middle of the night screaming because of a bad dream, or she would suddenly bolt upright because of a hallucination. I couldn’t do anything to stop her from shaking, and neither could Mrs. Meiser; the most we could do was hold her until she’d stopped crying.

Her vision had somewhat improved, and she told me that she currently had tunnel vision of a very small diameter. The rest, though, was just a huge blur and she could still only see light. That meant that she couldn’t see very well at night.

I wasn’t due back at the training ground just yet, but I’d decided to pop by occasionally to start with training. With Mrs. Meiser also due back in Munich for work after a week and a half, it meant that Gabi was left alone with the twins. With her slowly but steadily improving vision, she assured me that she could cope.

The problem came, though, when she forgot to take her medicine. In the days that had passed, she’d forget her medicine at least once a day. I’d do my best to remember and remind her, but she would complain about how troublesome it was, how bitter it tasted, and how she was doing just fine without them.

Soon, I had to return to the training ground for good, and that meant that Gabi would spend long stretches alone at home with the twins. I could tell she was struggling, but she tried her best to hide it. What she couldn’t hide, though, were her red puffy eyes when she hid in the bathroom to cry.

An intense day of pre-season training for me had just ended, and I’d come home to the twins running to me gleefully and grabbing on to my calves, screaming with delight. “DAADAAAAAAAAA,” they yelled, before Mia screamed, “MISS DADA!”

“Hey, baby,” Gabi called from behind them. “Had a good day?”

“Yeah, it was fine,” I said, grabbing the twins and standing up as they clung on to me tightly. By the time I’d looked back at Gabi, she’d turned her back and started walking towards the bathroom blindly, feeling around for the chairs and the walls as she went along.

I put the twins down in their play area. “How are you today?” I asked them. They’d begun to understand that question and answer it appropriately.

Johann patted his tummy. “No hungry,” he told me as Mia nodded.

“Miss dada,” she repeated, before crawling over to me and climbing up into my lap. She grabbed my cheeks with both her hands and pressed them gently. In the most serious tone she could muster, she said, “Mama cry.”

“Mama cry? When?”

“Mama cry many,” Johann added from his position, sitting on his butt with some Legos in his lap.

“Mama sad,” Mia pouted.

I put her back down next to Johann and gave both of them little kisses on their heads. “You guys play together, okay? I’m going to check on mama.”

“Kay,” I heard Johann say as I stood up and followed Gabi’s footsteps to the bathroom. Alas, she wasn’t there any longer, and I caught her trying to climb the stairs, desperately clinging on to the Christmas light-decorated bannisters as she did so.

I ran up the few steps that she’d managed to climb and took her arm. “Let me help you, baby.”

She looked downwards so her hair covered her face. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “I can do it.”

“Gabi,” I stopped her and turned her to face me. I tucked her hair behind her ear and saw that tears were streaming down her face. “Why are you crying? What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” she sobbed. “It’s nothing.”

“Baby, talk to me. Come on, I’ll bring you to bed, then we can talk, okay?”

I scooped her up into my arms and carried her up the stairs and into our bedroom. I tucked her comfortably under the sheets before joining her. The both of us lay face to face, silent except for Gabi trying to control her sobbing, until she finally said, “I’m sorry, Toni.”

“Why?” I swept her sticky hair out of her face. “Don’t be sorry.”

“I just…I just feel so useless. I can’t play with the twins. I can’t really see their toys. And I feel so useless just sitting around at home while you’re working…I’m not trying to keep you at home, I know you have to do it. I want you to do it. But I just…can’t help but feel so useless. Especially when they ran up to you just now, and…and they missed you so much.”

“They told me you cried a lot today.”

“They’re such tattletales.”

I laughed. “Gabi, you’re not useless, okay? I know it’s difficult. And I know you cry a lot. Your eyes are always red and puffy. And to be honest, I feel useless, too, knowing that I can’t do anything to help you. But I know you’re strong, baby, and I know you’ll get past this. I’ll get past this with you.”

“You’re not useless, Toni. It’s me. It’s always been me. Look at me. And then look at yourself. I don’t deserve a guy like you.”

“I don’t deserve a girl like you, Gabi. But here we are with each other. It’s just meant to be. Please, please don’t cry anymore, okay? It’ll hurt your eyes. Did you eat your medicine?”

She smiled sheepishly. “No,” she whispered guiltily.

I sighed. “Gabi! If you don’t eat your medicine and you keep crying, how will we know if you’re getting better? If you stop crying, you’ll be able to see properly. Without all the tears blinding you.”

“I’m trying,” she sighed. “I’ll go take my medicine now.”

“I’ll get it for you,” I said, getting up. “And I’ll bring the twins to their room, too.”

Gabi’s POV

I turned to face the window and closed my eyes – I’d been doing a lot of that lately, because I was simply too scared to open my eyes. I was afraid of what I couldn’t see.

As useless as I felt, I really couldn’t do anything much except lie there on my side of the bed and wait for Toni to return. A few minutes later I heard that he did, with the giggling twins in his arms as he carried them to the nursery opposite.

“PLAAAAAAAAY,” Johann squealed. “Dada play?”

Toni laughed. “Okay, baby, I gotta give mama her medicine first, okay?”

“Med…eeeee…ssssss…” Johann tried in vain to repeat.

“Mama,” Mia chimed in. “Where mama? Miss mama. Mama cry?”

“Shhhh,” I could almost see the worried look on Toni’s face as he whispered. “Mama will be just fine. You two be good, okay?”

“Kay,” Johann said.

At that point, I was in tears. I wanted so badly to hold my children, to hold my husband, and to tell them over and over again how much I loved them. But I couldn’t see them; I couldn’t cook for them, wash them, play with them, or watch them sleep. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t give just to do those things again.

I slapped a hand over my mouth as a sob escaped it. I was really tired of this. I was really tired of crying and worrying about what was going to happen next. Would I get to watch my precious children grow up? Would I get to hold their hands, swing them in the air, and watch their faces light up when I told them I loved them?

I was trying so hard to control my own crying that I didn’t hear Toni walking over to our room. “Gabi, baby, here’s your medicine,” he started, before he sat down and realised that I was crying. “Gabi, why are you crying? Please don’t cry, baby. Please don’t cry. It hurts me so much.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, baby,” he put the medicine and the glass of water down and moved in to lie behind me, wrapping his arms protectively around me. “What’s wrong? Talk to me.”

“I miss them,” I sobbed. “I miss you. I miss all of you. I want to see all your faces again…but I don’t know when that will happen.”

“It’ll happen really soon, baby. I trust you.”

“I’m scared,” I whispered. “I’m so scared, Toni.”

“Don’t be, Gabi. I’ll always be here. I promise.”

“I love you so much.”

“I love you too, baby,” he kissed the back of my head. “You know what? It’s the twins’ birthday tomorrow. Why don’t we let them stay up a bit later, and we can go over and play with them now?”

“Oh,” I said in realisation. “It’s their birthday tomorrow. I didn’t even…do anything for them.”

“I’ll just get a cake tomorrow or something,” he let go of me and slid over to the other side. “Come on, take your medicine and we can go play with them.”

I took my medicine obediently and let Toni lead me to the nursery, where the twins screeched happily at the sight of their parents.

“MAAMAAAAAAAAAAA,” Mia called, clapping joyfully. “Mama play?”

I could see a little of her face from the middle of my vision field, so I smiled at her and walked over. “Hey, baby,” I reached over, felt for the ground, and sat down next to them. “How are you?”

She nodded, and I saw her head bob up and down. “Play,” she demanded. “Mama no cry.”

“Okay,” I whispered, wiping the rest of my tears with my sleeve. Toni gave me a kiss on the top of my head as he sat next to me.

I lost track of time as we sat and played. I was enjoying myself so much with Toni’s constant encouragement and the twins’ constant laughter. Even though I still couldn’t control the tears running down my face, they were more of happy tears. In that hour or so, it was as if I could see again, if not for the tears forming a veil. In fact, I didn’t really remember what it felt like to not have tears obstructing whatever limited vision I had.

“See, not so hard, right?” Toni leaned over and whispered in my ear.

“Yeah,” I smiled as he kissed my temple. “What time is it?”

“Nine, their bedtime. They aren’t sleepy yet, I think.”

“Of course they wouldn’t, with us here,” I laughed. “What’s Johann doing?”

“Playing with his little car.”

“The cardboard one?”

“Yes, the cardboard one,” he chuckled. “I don’t know why he likes it so much. It looks like it could crumble any second.”

I smiled, reached over to Johann’s rough position, and managed not to poke him in the eye as I smoothened his hair. “Caaaaaaar,” he exclaimed, making engine noises as he ran it on the ground.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” I told Toni as I stood up. He helped me up, kissed my head again, and gave me two pats on the backside as if I was Johann or Mia.

Suddenly, I felt my foot land on something hard, followed by a loud crunching sound as it collapsed under my weight. I froze in position as there was suddenly complete silence in the room. Cautiously, I lifted my foot up and stepped on flat ground – just as Johann suddenly burst into tears and started wailing so loudly he almost tore the entire house down.

“What?” I asked, panicked. “What happened?”

“You stepped on his cardboard car,” Toni said. “Shhh, baby, don’t cry. We’ll get you another one.”

“NOOOO,” he screamed. “NOOOOOOOO!”

“Johann, baby, I’m sorry,” I took a few hesitant steps towards him, spreading my arms. “Let mama hold you. I’m so sorry, baby. I’ll get you a new one.”

The screaming became louder as Toni passed him into my arms. I stroked his back gently as I shushed him, but he refused to calm down, instead using his hands to slap my cheeks and my shoulders. “MAMA,” he shrieked. “MAMA BAD! MAMA BAD!”

“I’m sorry,” I sobbed. “I’m so sorry, baby. I’ll get you a new one. I promise.”

“CAAAAAAR,” he whined loudly, still slapping me in the face. “WANT CAR!”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, trying to hold him close, but he refused, instead pushing me as hard as he could so that I’d let him go. “Johann, please stop crying. Mama’s so sorry.”

He continued pushing me and crying loudly, so I had no other choice but to hand him to Toni, who was doing a much better job at calming him down than I was. Soon, both Toni and Mia seemed to be distracted (and scared) by his crying – and so was I, but I couldn’t do anything at all, so I decided to discreetly back out of the nursery.

None of them had noticed that I was gone – or if they had, they didn’t try to call me back. Devastated and sobbing uncontrollably, I grabbed the lighted stair railings and made my way down the stairs. Miraculously, I made it down in a flash, and a few seconds later I was out the door.

It was night, and I couldn’t see anything at all. I was almost completely blind. I followed the sound of the traffic and eventually reached the main road which I knew so well – the twins’ favourite toy store was just a few shops down the left. I needed to get that car for Johann.

I ran as fast as I could in that direction, only to trip on a step and fall straight on my knees. I felt a stinging pain on my knee caps and on my left palm, but I couldn’t see what had happened. To be honest, I didn’t care what had happened. I picked myself up and ran the rest of the way, feeling the store windows until I felt the little teddy that hung outside the door of the toy store.

“Hey!” I banged frantically on the door. “Is anyone there? I need to get something.”

The little window in the door suddenly slid open loudly. “Mrs. Kroos?” the shopowner asked. “We’re closed for the day. Why don’t you come back tomorrow?”

“No, I need it now. Please. I need it now.”

“I’m sorry, we’re closed. The cashiers are closed. Please come back tomorrow.”

With that, the window slid shut again. I slid down until I was sitting on the ground. “NO, NO, NO!” I yelled to no one in particular. “Johann, please forgive me. Please. I’m so sorry.”

After brooding for a few minutes, I stood up and nearly bumped into a passer-by. “Oh,” a female voice said. “Sorry. Didn’t see you.”

I heard her footsteps as she started to walk away, but I reached out and grabbed her arm. “The river,” I said, a little harsher than I’d wanted. “How do I get to the river?”

“Manzanares?” she asked, pausing. I saw the flickering shadow as she waved her hand in front of my eyes to test if I could see. When I didn’t respond, she turned me in another direction. “Here. Just walk straight for about two hundred meters.”

I thanked her hastily before I started walking. I didn’t even know why those words came out of my mouth. I just felt like I needed to be at the river. I wanted to be at the river. Maybe that was where I could get rid of all my problems.

_“Mama no cry.”_

_“MAMA BAD! MAMA BAD!”_

_”Please stop crying. It hurts me so much.”_

“I’m sorry,” I muttered as I walked. “I’m sorry, Johann. I’m sorry. Mia. Toni. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m such a useless mother. A useless wife. I can’t do anything right. I’ve never done anything right in my entire life. Someone up there in the sky has been trying so hard to kill me off. Maybe it’s time that I went. Maybe that’s my destiny.”

Toni’s POV

Johann finally calmed down after a half-hour or so, and he’d fallen asleep, but unfortunately Mia was still awake and very excited. She hadn’t seemed to be afraid of Johann’s screaming.

“Dadaaaaa,” she grabbed on to my calves as I stood by the cots. “Where mama?”

I hoisted her up into my arms. “She’s probably sleeping. Wanna join her?”

She nodded, even though she probably didn’t understand, so I carried her over to our room – but the sheets were messed up and the bed was empty. I checked the bathroom, living room and kitchen, and every other room in the house, but Gabi was nowhere to be seen. I grabbed my phone and called her, but the ringing came from the bedside table upstairs, where she’d left it.

I turned to Mia, who was sucking on her thumb patiently, waiting for me to bring her to Gabi. “Where’s mama?” I asked her.

She extracted her thumb from her mouth just to say, “Sleep,” before putting it back in.

I stared at her. She was so innocent. I brought her back up to the nursery and put her in bed. “Go to sleep, Mia. Good night. Dada loves you.”

“Lurrrrrrve,” she repeated, but she didn’t close her eyes. “Mama?”

“Mama’s missing,” I whispered, but she didn’t respond. I tried patting and singing her to sleep, but she didn’t sleep either. After another half-hour of just standing there, trying desperately to make her sleep, and worrying about Gabi’s whereabouts, I decided to take action.

“Wanna go on an adventure?” I asked, picking her up and hoisting her over my shoulder. Gently, I picked up the sleeping Johann with my other arm and brought them both out to the car. “Let’s go find mama. Shhhh, don’t make any noise, okay?”

Mia sat silently next to Johann, who was still sleeping soundly after his intense crying fit. She stared out the window curiously. “Tell me if you see mama, okay?” I asked.

“Kay,” she said, intently examining the surroundings. I drove in circles around the city, down every street I knew, but with every round, more doors were closed, more windows were shut, and more lights were turned off. It was already past eleven when I completed the third and final round and decided to head home. By then, Mia had already fallen asleep.

Exhausted but knowing that I wouldn’t be able to sleep without Gabi next to me, I put the twins in their cots and settled down on the couch to watch TV, determined to wait until she came back. She would. I knew she would come back. Gabi always did. It’s what made me love her more with every passing day.

I was still flipping lazily through the channels after a few hours when I came across a 24-hour news channel. It being past four in the morning and with nothing else to watch, I decided to tune in to their breaking news story.

“Police and paramedics have been called to the Río Manzanares to retrieve a floating corpse found in the water just about an hour ago,” the low voice reported. “It is believed to be of a female in her mid-twenties, of height around 1.72 meters, with brown hair and wearing a grey t-shirt. She has no identification documents on her, and the police are rallying for witnesses or for anybody who might know her identity. It is believed to be a suicide committed at around five or so hours ago.”

I bolted upright, wide awake, as I realised that Gabi was wearing a grey t-shirt when she supposedly went to bed. And she had brown hair. And she didn’t bring anything with her when she went out. I turned back to the TV, where they were showing a full list of descriptions. Everything matched. Every single point. Grey shirt, brown hair, mid-twenties, 1.72cm tall, drowned five hours ago.

_“I just feel so useless… …I feel so useless just sitting around at home while you’re working.”_

_“I’m scared. I’m so scared, Toni.”_

_“I’m so sorry I’m such a burden.”_

_“Maybe I’m just not meant to live.”_

“Gabi,” I whispered. “Gabi, no.”

I barged out the front door, down the driveway, and as far along the street as I dared to while leaving the twins at home – all the while with Gabi’s crying, desperate, but still beautiful face flashing in my mind. Why? How could she do this to me? To us? My beautiful, wonderful Gabriele.

“GABI!” I screamed as loudly as I could into the still night air, not caring how many neighbours I scared or awoke. “GABI, YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME, YOU HEAR? YOU CAN’T. I LOVE YOU, GABI. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.”

I knelt on the ground, rocking back and forth, as guilt and tears overwhelmed me. How could I have been so careless? How could I have just let her go like that? Now, my entire life was going to be filled with regret. Regret that I let my precious Gabriele go, just like that. Regret that I didn’t care more about her feelings than about Johann’s silly toy car. And now, she was gone. For good. I was never going to get her back ever again.

And on that morning, as I sat on the sidewalk, I prayed. I fervently prayed for a miracle that Gabi was still alive and kicking, even if she was still blind. I prayed that all of this was somehow just a freakish coincidence. I prayed the best that I could; I’d never prayed so hard before.

I prayed that my Gabriele would come back to me, just like she always did.


	40. Boundless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all once again for reading this lengthy fic, I hope you enjoyed it! :)

Toni’s POV

There was only a hint of sunrise when I decided to get up and do the one thing I never ever wanted to do – go to the river and claim Gabi’s unmoving body. I dragged myself up to my feet and walked a few steps away from home only to remember the sleeping twins, and so I dragged myself home to collect them.

As I stood over their little cots and watched them sleeping peacefully, their little chests moving up and down and their chubby arms tangled around their gigantic soft toys, I couldn’t help but shed tears that I didn’t know I still had. Oh, Gabi, what am I ever going to do without you? When I look at them, I see you. I see us. How am I ever going to live with the fact that you’re not by my side?

It was then that I decided that bringing the twins to the scene would be a little traumatising for them, so I picked up my phone and dialled one of my teammates for help.

“Hello?” James yawned. “Who is this? What is it?”

I realised that it was just almost seven in the morning and he probably wasn’t awake yet. “Sorry,” I said. “It’s me, Toni. Can you do me a favour?”

“Yeah?” he asked, his sleepy voice suddenly becoming more awake. “What’s wrong? You sound worried. Is everything okay?”

“I think, um…” I cleared my throat so my voice wouldn’t tremble. “I think something’s up with my wife. Could you take care of my kids for a while?”

“Sure, I’ll bring Salome along. I’ll be there in twenty.”

I thanked him, hung up the phone, and sat on the couch impatiently to wait for his arrival. I didn’t know if the police would still be there or if they’d bring her somewhere else. Finally, at around half past seven, the doorbell rang. I nearly fell and broke my neck as I flew off the couch and to the door.

“Hey,” I greeted him. “Thanks for helping me.”

“No problem,” he put the sleeping Salome down on the couch. “Don’t worry, go and handle what you’re supposed to.”

“Thank you,” I smiled, but suddenly the reality of the situation fell upon me. “Oh, James…I think she’s…she’s gone.”

“Gone? What do you mean gone? You mean like…dead?” his eyes suddenly widened. “You mean like…you think that girl at the river…”

“Oh, you know about it,” I sighed, trying my hardest not to break down crying in front of him. “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

“I heard it on the radio on the way here. Don’t worry, Toni. It’ll all be fine. I don’t think it’s her.”

“Really, you don’t?” I asked, and he nodded. “Thank you, James. Thank you. I’ll be back soon.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be waiting to see two of you home!”

With the renewed hope that James had just given me, I hopped into the car and drove as quickly (and safely) as I could to the river where the scene was reportedly at. Thankfully (or not), the police and paramedics were still there, the body was still covered in a tent, and a small crowd of morning joggers were gathered around the scene. I parked the car a short distance away and walked up hesitantly, not entirely sure what to expect. Of course, I was sure of one thing, which was that I’d end up in a crying heap.

Much to my surprise, there was a lady in her fifties in the centre of the crowd, being held back by some officers and joggers. She was crying hysterically and demanding the girl to be revived.

“Poor thing, her daughter was so young, and now she’s all alone,” I heard someone murmur to the person beside him.

I tapped him on the shoulder. “Is that the mum?” I asked, and he nodded. I looked back at the crying lady; she definitely didn’t look like Mrs. Meiser, whom I also knew for a matter of fact was in Munich. “Do you know them?” I asked.

“They’re my neighbours,” he said. “I came with her to identify the body.”

“Oh,” I whispered. So it wasn’t Gabi! It had really been a freakish coincidence after all. I’d worried the entire night for nothing. Knowing and feeling a bit guilty that it was a little act of schadenfreude, I glanced up at the pink morning sky. I’d never been religious, but that day I thanked whoever was up there with all my heart for answering my prayers. I thanked them for giving me hope. And of course, I prayed for the peace of the poor girl’s soul, and for her mother. “Thank you,” I whispered, gazing up at the sky.

“You’re welcome,” the man said, thinking I was talking to him.

I gaped at him, but he was still staring sadly at the crying mother. “I’m sorry for your loss,” I told him, before walking to the crying lady (which was a difficult task given the number of people surrounding her), patting her on the shoulder, and telling her the same thing.

I took a deep breath when I was finally back in the open, a few meters away from the scene. Now that the last doubts in my mind had vanished, I had to focus on the resulting task – finding Gabi. She hadn’t taken anything with her; not her phone, her wallet, or her passport, and with that in mind I knew she couldn’t have gone far.

Suddenly filled with the immense hope that Gabi had always been the source of (to be honest, on that day she was  _still_  being the source of that hope), I set off on foot, remembering how I’d spent the night searching for her when she ran away in Cologne. I planted the seed of optimism and energy in my own mind, forgot all the pain I’d needlessly put myself through the night before, and set off in search of the love of my life.

Gabi’s POV

My neck and back were aching terribly when I opened my eyes. It was almost blindingly bright behind my eyelids, and for a few moments I forgot where I was.

Sitting upright and feeling around me, I realised that I’d fallen asleep on a bench along the river – it was strange, because I hadn’t voluntarily fallen asleep for the past two weeks or so, neither had I awoken without tears in my eyes. I had been having sleepless nights, crying silently next to a sleeping Toni. Perhaps the exhaustion had finally taken over me on that night.

Cautiously, I opened my eyes, still afraid of what I would see in front of me. The moment they were open, though, I knew something was wrong – or more accurately, something was right.

I could see.

No, it wasn’t one of those magical moments where everything was suddenly right, like in children’s fairytales; neither was it one of those immediate miracles – but it was definitely surreal. The cloud that had been obstructing my vision had somehow cleared dramatically, although not completely, allowing me to see things more clearly. I could see outlines. Definite shapes. I could even see the moving lips of the two people who had just walked past me. My tunnel vision had also seemed to widen a little, and the clear spot in the middle of my vision covered a much larger area.

Although I technically still couldn’t see like I did before the robbery, it was definitely a vast improvement. It was like it had been raining in my eyes for the past week or two, and now the rain had cleared and there was only a slight fog.

I lifted my hand to my eyes, and then to the back of my head. How did this happen? Did someone give me new eyes? A new optic nerve? A new…whatever cortex it was that Toni always spoke about? How long had I been sleeping here?

I raised my hand to eye-level, and I could see how many fingers I had. I wriggled them around and saw the early morning sunlight reflecting off my wedding ring and my polished fingernails. The outlines were still fuzzy, but I could definitely see. It was just as if I had a moderate degree of short-sightedness in the periphery of my vision and forgot to bring my glasses.

Another two people walked past me, and I heard them discuss something familiar – the suicide. Just about fifty meters away from where I sat. I vaguely remembered being awoken in the wee hours of the morning by the sounds of police sirens and reporters. And I remembered sitting there, listening to the entire scene unfold, and thinking to myself – how would Toni feel? If I had really jumped into the river like I’d planned to when I first ran here? And Johann? Mia? My parents and Amelie? And hell, even Felix? I couldn’t bear to see them sad. I couldn’t be so selfish.

Now that the sun was up, there was a lady crying. Crying for her daughter, I supposed. And right then, even though that poor girl couldn’t be saved, I thanked her. I thanked her for teaching me a lesson. For keeping me alive.

More people were walking past me, so I stopped one of them and asked, “What time is it?”

“Eight in the morning,” she showed me her watch, and I saw the time.  _I actually saw the needles on the watch._

“Oh, I can see,” I grabbed her by her shoulders and yelled in her face, possibly scaring her. “I CAN SEE! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!”

“Uhh…well…you’re welcome,” she stuttered, hastily walking away. “And congratulations.”

I couldn’t help but burst out laughing randomly as I watched her silhouette fade.  _I watched her silhouette fade_. I turned to the other direction, and I started running. I didn’t know why, but I just needed to run. I ran and ran and ran along the river’s path, continuing even as I reached parts of the city I’d never been to, all the while laughing manically to myself and telling random passers-by that I could see again.

I finally stopped when I reached the Vicente Calderón stadium, which was when I realised how far I’d gone from home. I stopped and took a break, with my hands on my knees and a million thoughts still running through my mind.

I couldn’t believe I’d slept an entire nine hours on that bench. The combined hours that I’d slept over the past week could barely even hit nine. And I hadn’t woken up crying; in fact, it felt like I’d cried so much that I’d literally run out of tears. Even if I wanted to cry right then, I couldn’t.

And then I suddenly made the connection – Toni, my mum, and the doctor had been telling me to get plenty of rest. Barely sleeping definitely didn’t match the definition of “plenty of rest.” I guessed the exhaustion of all the sleepless nights had just collapsed on me the night before, and I couldn’t help but sleep right there on the park bench, not even bothering about the night chill or if any creepy men would come and do things to me. But then again, they probably wouldn’t dare, not with all the policemen there.

_“Gabi! If you don’t eat your medicine and you keep crying, how will we know if you’re getting better? If you stop crying, you’ll be able to see properly. Without all the tears blinding you.”_

Oh, Toni, you were right once again. How do you even know these things? I ate my medicine, slept nine hours, and stopped crying. And now I can see again. Well, I can see _more_. It’s wonderful what a good night’s sleep could do to someone. And oh, of course I couldn’t see anything. How could I, with my eyes closed almost 99 per cent of the time, and tears shielding them even when they were open?

Toni! Where was he? No, where was  _I?_  How was he? The twins? I searched my pockets for my phone, but I must have left it at home. Oh, Toni must have been so worried. Ignoring my aching feet, I set off running again, this time in the direction of home.

About a half-hour later, I was finally in our district again. As I reached the so very familiar junction between the main road and our street, I remembered Johann and his silly cardboard car. Turning to my side, I almost burst into joyful tears upon seeing the familiar toy shop front. I could actually  _see_  it, and not blindly feel for it and trip over a stupid step and land on my knees.

Hurrying there and barging through the door, which was fortunately unlocked, I was greeted by the surprised voice of the shopowner. “Mrs. Kroos! You’re early today.”

“Yeah, I really need to get something.”

“Sorry about yesterday. We can’t do anything if the cashiers are closed.”

“Are they open now?” I asked.

“Yes, they are. Go get whatever you need!”

I walked through the aisles, marvelling at all the colours and shapes I could finally see. Before I could get too distracted, though, I made my way to the toy cars section and found the DIY cardboard car set that we’d bought for Johann. Not wanting to be unfair, I went to the crafts section and got a set of multi-coloured Play-Doh for Mia to smash like she loved to.

I set the things down at the cashier and dug into my pockets only to find that I didn’t have any money with me. I gaped at the shopowner in dismay. “I don’t have any money.”

“Now that the cashiers are open, you don’t have any money!” he teased, laughing loudly.

“I’m sorry. Can I pay you next time? You know me. And my husband, of course. We won’t run away or anything.”

He laughed again. “Of course you won’t! But hey, your husband came in a few days ago and said it’s your kids’ birthday today, the 14th of August. So you can have them for free! Gifts for your children from the nice people at their favourite store.”

Tears I didn’t know I still had formed in my eyes as I realised it was their birthday. With everything that had happened, I’d almost forgotten. Guilt overwhelmed me as I tried my best to keep the tears in in an effort to not blind myself again. How could I ever have thought of leaving them? I loved them with all my heart. And they loved me with theirs. How could I have been so stupid?

I felt my vision cloud over again as those tears shielded my view. I needed to stop agitating myself. I needed to be clear-headed and happy. Frantically wiping my tears, I thanked the shopowner, grabbed the bag of toys from him, and ran out the door and in the direction of home, back to my dearest husband and our precious children. I couldn’t wait to hold all of them in my arms again and finally see all their beautiful smiles.

Toni’s POV

I’d spent almost an hour running aimlessly down the streets of Madrid, but there was still no sign of Gabi. I trudged down the street on the way home dejectedly, thinking of a plan B, which would perhaps consist of me gathering all my teammates in a desperate search.

As I was waiting to cross the last road that would put me on our street, a brown-haired, grey-shirted figure with a paper bag in her arms suddenly dashed out from the toy store, ran along the sidewalk opposite the one I was standing on, and turned into our street.

It was Gabi.

“GABI!” I yelled as loudly as I could over the traffic after a few seconds of hesitation as I tried to fathom if what I was seeing was real and not just a mirage. I was almost fainting with relief that I’d finally found her, yet also worried about what had happened to her. “GABI, WAIT FOR ME!”

Fortunately, she spun around as I glared at the traffic lights and willed them to turn in my favour. “Toni!” I heard her shout, before running back the distance she’d covered.

Seeing the delightful smile on her face, I couldn’t wait any longer. I weaved my way through the traffic, frantically waving at the drivers and apologising as I finally crossed over to the other side.

And then, I ran. I ran as fast as I could towards my Gabriele, who was seemingly struggling to run. The distance between us was barely twenty feet, but it seemed that we were miles apart. I just couldn’t wait to hold her in my arms again.

She dropped her bag on the ground as she reached me, and wrapped both her arms tightly around me. “Toni,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

“Where have you been?” I found myself sobbing. “I was so worried. I thought…you were dead.”

“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Are you okay?” I pulled away and examined her from head to toe, spotting the dried blood on her knees. “Are you hurt? How did you get hurt?”

“I tripped,” she said, holding out her palm, which also had blood on it. “It was dark.”

“Oh, Gabi,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around her again and stroking her hair, which appeared to be sweaty. “I’m so glad you’re here. Please tell me I’m not hallucinating.”

“You’re not,” she said, turning and kissing my tears away.

“I thought you were the girl at the river. She’s exactly like you. She was wearing grey, and she was your height and your age.”

She smiled. “I was there. I was sleeping on a bench. So you’re pretty close.”

“Were you…” I started, afraid to ask the question. “Were you gonna…kill yourself?”

“I was,” her voice quivered. “But I thought of you…and Johann, and Mia, and everybody else. And I realised I was being so stupid. And then I fell asleep again.”

“Oh, that sounds just like you,” I kissed the side of her head. “Why were you so silly? What if something really happened to you? I would never forgive myself. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t notice you leaving because Johann was crying so loudly. I’m sorry. I should have gone after you.”

“Don’t be sorry,” she whispered. “ _I’m_  sorry. I shouldn’t have ran away.”

“Gabi,” I called again. “Oh, you have no idea about the hell I’ve been through.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Promise.”

“I love you so much,” I whispered into her hair.

“I love you more,” she kissed the back of my ear. A rush of relief coursed through my body as she said the words I thought I’d never hear ever again. “I had a nice long sleep,” she added.

“That’s good,” I let go of her again and examined her still tired face.

“That’s not the only good thing,” she said, grinning excitedly. “How do you think I managed to run straight up to you without crashing into anyone or anything?”

It took me a few seconds of staring at her before it suddenly hit me. “You can see?” I squeaked.

The grin on her face grew wider. “Yeah! Well, not  _completely_ , but –“

The rest of whatever she’d wanted to say didn’t manage to come out of her mouth because my lips were on hers. I grabbed her grinning cheeks with both my hands and pressed myself hard against her, overwhelmed by whatever had happened the night before and on that morning. I just wanted to kiss her and hold her and never ever let her go ever again.

“As I was saying…” Gabi whispered against my lips. “I can’t see completely, just better.”

“I don’t care,” I whispered back. “As long as you’re getting better.”

“I accidentally did what you told me to,” she continued. “The holy trinity. Medicine, sleep, stop crying.”

“Awww,” I couldn’t help but laugh. “Continue doing that and you’ll be fine in no time.”

“I love you,” she said, planting her lips on my nose.

“I love you too, baby,” I smiled. “What did you buy?”

She picked up the bag excitedly and fished out a box. “Johann’s car!” she exclaimed.

“Awwwww,” I reflected her excited, teethy grin. “Anything else?”

“Play-Doh for Mia to practice her violence,” she giggled. “Happy birthday to them.”

My mouth fell open. “Oh, yeah, it’s their birthday!” I grabbed her hand and pulled her along, much to her surprise as she fumbled to put everything back in the bag. “Quick, we have to get home!”

“Oh, my God, are they home alone?” she asked. “Hurry!”

I didn’t have a chance to answer her, because she dragged me quickly along, giggling as we ran all the way home. I gazed at her as her hair flew with the wind, amazed that she could actually see the way home unlike previously. I made myself a mental note to ask her how she did it.

“Shhhh,” she whispered as she closed the front door. James and Salome were nowhere to be seen.

“Gabi, I –“ I panted, but she shut me up.

“SHHHHHHHHH!!!” she ordered. “Don’t wake them up!”

“But –“

Suddenly, there was a happy shriek and giggle from the nursery upstairs, and Gabi turned to me, wide-eyed. “Who’s that?” she whispered urgently.

Before I could respond, she dumped the bag on the ground and charged up the stairs. It was just like her to be heroic and charge head-first into danger. “Noooooooo,” I muttered as I followed her up the stairs, still marvelling at how she could make it up.

She stopped when she reached the door of the nursery, peeking inside and then turning to me in horror. “There’s  _a man inside_ ,” she informed me.

“Gabi, it’s just –“ I started, but suddenly James appeared at the entrance, turned Gabi around, and wrapped his arms tightly around her.

“YOU’RE HOME!” he exclaimed, grabbing Gabi’s face and kissing her cheeks. “WELCOME HOME!”

“Oh, my God, he’s kissing me,” Gabi said, horrified, as James wrapped his arms around her again. Buried in his grasp, she turned to stare at me. “Who’s kissing me? Who’s this?”

“It’s James,” I informed her, before reaching over and prying his arms off her. “Hey, she’s mine.”

“Sorry,” he laughed. “I’m just so happy! Look at you two. You looked so tired this morning and now you’re glowing.”

Gabi turned and glared at me. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!”

“You didn’t let me!” I retorted. “I called him to babysit.”

“They’re having lots of fun with Salome,” James grinned, grabbing Gabi’s arm and dragging her into the nursery. “Look at them! I mean…like…can you see them?”

“I can,” Gabi smiled. “Hey, Johann. Hey, Mia. Hi Salome!”

“HELLOOOO,” Salome grinned, running over and wrapping her arms around Gabi’s thighs.

“MAMA HI!” Mia screamed, running over to Gabi’s side and leaning her cheek on her calf.

“Hey, baby,” Gabi lifted Mia in her arms and gave her a kiss on the cheek as Salome ran back to her dad. Then, as if in sync, Gabi and I both turned to Johann, who was just sitting there on the ground playing with crayons and paper. We didn’t say a word to each other, but I knew we were both thinking the same thing – was he still angry?

He poked around with the crayons for a few more moments before he looked up and realised that Mia was gone. “Mia…?” he called, his mouth falling open as he scanned the room, before it turned into a huge, bright grin when he caught sight of me and Gabi. “MAMA!!!” he screamed, standing up and bounding towards Gabi. “MAMA HI!”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Gabi muttered, sitting on the ground and hoisting Johann into her lap. “Hi, Johann. Did you sleep well?”

“Sleep,” he nodded. “Johann sleep.”

“Oh, I love you,” Gabi whispered, holding them close to her chest. “I’m sorry. Mama’s so, so sorry.”

“No sowee,” Mia mumbled.

“Wanna see your birthday presents?” I asked, reaching over and ruffling their hair.

Johann opened his arms towards me once he saw me, so I carried him out the door and down the stairs as James followed with Mia now in his arms and Salome trotting along obediently beside them. We waited patiently for Gabi at the foot of the stairs as she took her time, grabbing on to the railings to make sure she wouldn’t fall. Salome was doing the same on the other side of the stairs.

“Ta-da!” she exclaimed when she reached us. “Record time!”

“YEAH!” Salome shrieked as she skipped the last three steps and just jumped down directly, landing next to Gabi. “Record time!”

I laughed and leaned over to kiss Gabi on the lips – pulling away only to see Johann puckering his lips at me, wanting a kiss as well. I kissed him on the nose, leading him to clap merrily.

Mia, on the other hand, was nowhere near us, so she proceeded to pucker her lips and give James a kiss on the cheek before he could respond. “Awwww,” he laughed, booping her on the nose. She giggled shyly and buried her face in his shoulder.

“She totally has a crush on him,” I leaned over and whispered to Gabi as we all gathered at the couch.

“She’s a  _baby_ ,” she said.

I shrugged. “A little baby crush, then.”

“And he’s married,” she added. “Oh, you sound just like Amelie!”

“I suppose you guys wanna be alone now,” James suddenly said, standing up with Salome in his arms. “We’ll go back home.”

“No, it’s okay, stay for the party!” Gabi said before hesitating. “Well, without you there will literally be no party.”

“It’s fine, we’re supposed to be out with Daniela today,” he smiled. “Have fun!”

Gabi’s POV

We thanked James as he left, and then we turned to return to the couch, leaving Mia, who was standing at the door and gazing out sadly.

“What is it, baby?” Toni asked, carrying her up. “Let’s go play.”

“You wanna play with Salome?” I asked. “Don’t worry, she’ll come over again soon.”

She shook her head. “Haaaaaaaa,” she said, pointing outside.

From the couch, Johann continued where she left off. “Messsssssssssssssss,” he said, drool spilling out of his mouth. We turned to him only to see him making a kissy face.

Toni gasped. “I told you she has a crush on him! See, even Johann knows!”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever! He probably kissed them too much. I mean, he even kissed  _me_.”

“Well, we can solve that,” Toni said, bringing Mia over and putting her next to Johann. Together, we leaned over and planted many little kisses all over their faces, laughing as they squealed joyfully and attempted to kiss us back.

“Come on, Mia, let’s go play with some clay,” I smiled as they calmed down, lying flat on their backs and panting a little. “Johann, you’ve got a new vroom vroom now.”

The twins both screamed in excitement as we took the boxes out. Johann grabbed the box containing the unassembled toy car and hugged it tightly, laughing as he did so. “CAAAR,” he exclaimed. “Thank! Mama dada thank!”

“Happy birthday, son,” I kissed him on the top of the head, and he grinned at me before quickly getting distracted as Toni taught him to assemble the car. He sat at the side obediently, occasionally picking up some pieces and handing them to Toni, urging him to hurry up so he could play with it.

I turned to Mia, who was sitting on the ground and who had unboxed the Play-Doh and was eagerly holding two containers towards me, pleading with me to help her open them. Laughing, I did just that and poured out a little of each for her. She proceeded to roll them into random shapes and smash them with her bare hands until they were flat, before shaping and smashing them again.

“Let’s go bake them a cake,” Toni said after a while, startling me as I was almost hypnotised by Mia and her repetitive violent actions. I turned, and through my blurry vision I saw that Johann was now playing happily with his new car and making engine noises. Toni grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to the kitchen.

“Potato cake or normal cake?” I asked.

“Potato,” he said. “We don’t need to eat a cake because we can just eat each other.”

“Toni!” I smacked him on the shoulder, but all he did was laugh and pull me close so he could kiss me and invade my mouth with his curious tongue.

“I can’t even begin to explain how happy I am you’re home,” he whispered.

“I am, too,” I whispered back. “I’m so sorry for running away.”

“It’s okay, baby. I know you’ve been through a lot. But I’ll be here, okay? Every step of the way.”

“I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” he kissed my head and pulled away. “Come on, let’s clean you and your blood up before we make the cake.”

He sat me down on a stool and slowly wiped my wounds, which were fortunately not infected, before covering them up with small bandages. I couldn’t really deal with all the potatoes with the injury on my palm and of course with my imperfect vision, so I sat at the side and watched him lovingly as he pranced around the kitchen and sung softly as he baked.

“Aren’t you tired?” I asked.

“Nope,” he reached over and smeared some sour cream on my nose. “Not with you around.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Stop saying sorry or I’ll dump the whole container on your head,” he said, putting the cake in the oven and lifting the container of sour cream.

“Then you’ll just have to bathe me,” I giggled.

“You’re just making me want to do it more!”

“You know, I did say I’d make it up to you.”

His eyes lit up. “Really? You’ll let me bathe you?”

I burst out laughing. After all these years, he was still such a horny teenager. “Yeah, you can do anything.”

He ran over to the oven and peered inside. “Oh, hurry up, I wanna bathe her,” he muttered.

“There’s something else we can do,” I said, and he stared at me questioningly. I bit my lip suggestively. “Let’s make out.”

His eyes lit up again as he ran back to me and scooped me on my feet so he could press his smiling lips against mine. His hands were everywhere; travelling up and down my body, into my hair and back down, inside my shirt, and finally coming to rest on my bum. His tongue moved eagerly in my mouth, mingling with mine, and I almost couldn’t keep my balance; not only because he was leaning on me, but also because I went weak at the knees, just like I did whenever he kissed me like that.

“Jump,” he suddenly whispered, and I did. He wrapped my legs around himself and carried me over to the kitchen counter, violently sweeping away the mess he’d created while baking before putting me down.

As his lips and hands continued moving and his breath continued warming my cheeks, I couldn’t help but feel like I was exploding with relief and happiness – relief that I was still alive and that my family was still intact, and happiness that I was back here with them. I had almost been in a state of delirium the night before, but on that day, it was the twins’ birthday and another milestone for them, and Toni was kissing me with all his might, and I couldn’t be any happier.

I’d lost track of how long we were there with our lips and bodies pressed hard against each other’s, but I was brought back to the present when the oven suddenly gave a loud ding. I’d become less blind over the last three hours, but that kiss was so electrifying that I was dizzy and disoriented for a few seconds, and I was nearly blind again.

“Twenty minutes?” I panted. “We’ve been doing that for twenty minutes? That must be a new world record or something.”

“It felt shorter than that,” he noted, smirking cheekily to himself. He went over and retrieved the cake from the oven, placing it on the counter to cool. Then he returned to me and gave me a kiss on the nose. “Don’t ever run away again, okay? I don’t know what I’d do without you. I can’t live without you. I really can’t. I’ve never felt as ruined, as hopeless as I did yesterday when I thought you were really dead. I can’t lose you, you hear that, Gabi? I love you so much.”

“Okay,” I whispered, pushing his hair off his face. “I love you, too.”

He gave me one last kiss on the lips before we brought the cake and some plates out to the twins, who were still gleefully immersed in their new toys. Their faces brightened up even further, though, when they saw and smelled the mashed potatoes coming their way.

“POTATOOOOOOOO!” Johann exclaimed excitedly, clapping his hands vigorously. Mia joined in when she saw us, and the both of them were literally drooling over it. “LURRRVE!” she squealed. “MAMA DADA LURRRVE! MIA LOOOOOOOOVE!”

After thoroughly washing their Play-Doh-coloured hands and the sour cream on my nose, we sang them a quick birthday song, made wishes for them again, and gave them a slice each of their mashed potato cake so they could eat by themselves; they were learning to do so, and thankfully making much less of a mess.

“I love them so much,” Toni whispered to me as we sat on the floor next to them and watched them. “Thank you, Gabriele. Thank you for giving me such beautiful, talented children.”

“Thank you for providing the beautiful, talented genes.”

“I love you so much,” he said.

“I love you more,” I said, again feeling so indescribably relieved that I’d made it back to be by his side. “What did you wish for?”

He went silent for the next few moments as he gazed lovingly at them stuffing their faces with mashed potatoes. Finally, he turned to me, ran his hands through my hair, and tucked it behind my ear.

“I wished that they’ll be lucky enough to find their soulmates,” he whispered, his beautiful seawater eyes tearing through mine. One of his hands reached over and grabbed mine, his fingers filling the spaces between mine so perfectly. Slowly, he raised it and planted his lips on the back of it before he continued.

“Just like I was lucky enough to find someone like you.”


End file.
